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Essay on Buddhism

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100 Words Essay on Buddhism

Introduction to buddhism.

Buddhism is a religion and philosophy that emerged from the teachings of the Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama) around 2,500 years ago in India. It emphasizes personal spiritual development and the attainment of a deep insight into the true nature of life.

Key Beliefs of Buddhism

Buddhism’s main beliefs include the Four Noble Truths, which explain suffering and how to overcome it, and the Noble Eightfold Path, a guide to moral and mindful living.

Buddhist Practices

Buddhist practices like meditation and mindfulness help followers to understand themselves and the world. It encourages love, kindness, and compassion towards all beings.

Impact of Buddhism

Buddhism has greatly influenced cultures worldwide, promoting peace, non-violence, and harmony. It’s a path of practice and spiritual development leading to insight into the true nature of reality.

250 Words Essay on Buddhism

The four noble truths.

At the heart of Buddhism lie the Four Noble Truths. The first truth recognizes the existence of suffering (Dukkha). The second identifies the cause of suffering, primarily desire or attachment (Samudaya). The third truth, cessation (Nirodha), asserts that ending this desire eliminates suffering. The fourth, the path (Magga), outlines the Eightfold Path as a guide to achieve this cessation.

The Eightfold Path

The Eightfold Path, as prescribed by Buddha, is a practical guideline to ethical and mental development with the goal of freeing individuals from attachments and delusions; ultimately leading to understanding, compassion, and enlightenment (Nirvana). The path includes Right Understanding, Right Intent, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration.

Buddhists practice meditation and mindfulness to achieve clarity and tranquility of mind. They follow the Five Precepts, basic ethical guidelines to refrain from harming living beings, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, and intoxication.

Buddhism is a path of practice and spiritual development leading to insight into the true nature of reality. It encourages individuals to lead a moral life, be mindful and aware of thoughts and actions, and to develop wisdom and understanding. The ultimate goal is the attainment of enlightenment and liberation from the cycle of rebirth and death.

500 Words Essay on Buddhism

Introduction.

Buddhism, a religion and philosophy that emerged from the teachings of the Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama), has become a spiritual path followed by millions worldwide. It is a system of thought that offers practical methodologies and profound insights into the nature of existence.

The Life of Buddha

The Four Noble Truths are the cornerstone of Buddhism. They outline the nature of suffering (Dukkha), its origin (Samudaya), its cessation (Nirodha), and the path leading to its cessation (Magga). These truths present a pragmatic approach, asserting that suffering is an inherent part of existence, but it can be overcome by following the Eightfold Path.

The Eightfold Path, as taught by Buddha, is a practical guideline to ethical and mental development with the goal of freeing individuals from attachments and delusions, ultimately leading to understanding, compassion, and enlightenment. It includes Right Understanding, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration.

Buddhist Schools of Thought

Buddhism and modern science.

The compatibility of Buddhism with modern science has been a topic of interest in recent years. Concepts like impermanence, interconnectedness, and the nature of consciousness in Buddhism resonate with findings in quantum physics, neuroscience, and psychology. This convergence has led to the development of fields like neurodharma and contemplative science, exploring the impact of meditation and mindfulness on the human brain.

Buddhism, with its profound philosophical insights and practical methodologies, continues to influence millions of people worldwide. Its teachings provide a framework for understanding the nature of existence, leading to compassion, wisdom, and ultimately, liberation. As we delve deeper into the realms of modern science, the Buddhist worldview continues to offer valuable perspectives, underscoring its enduring relevance in our contemporary world.

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The cultural context

• The life of the Buddha
• Suffering, impermanence, and no-self
• The Four Noble Truths
• The law of dependent origination
• The Eightfold Path
• Expansion of Buddhism
• Buddhism under the Guptas and Palas
• The demise of Buddhism in India
• Contemporary revival
• Malaysia and Indonesia
• From Myanmar to the Mekong delta
• Central Asia
• The early centuries
• Developments during the Tang dynasty (618–907)
• Buddhism after the Tang
• Origins and introduction
• Nara and Heian periods
• New schools of the Kamakura period
• The premodern period to the present
• The Himalayan kingdoms
• Buddhism in the West
• Monastic institutions
• Internal organization of the sangha
• Society and state
• Classification of dhammas
• The stages leading to arhatship
• The Pali canon ( Tipitaka )
• Early noncanonical texts in Pali
• Later Theravada literature
• The Buddha: divinization and multiplicity
• The bodhisattva ideal
• The three Buddha bodies
• New revelations
• Madhyamika (Sanlun/Sanron)
• Yogachara/Vijnanavada (Faxiang/Hossō)
• Avatamsaka (Huayan/Kegon)
• Tiantai/Tendai
• Dhyana (Chan/Zen)
• Vajrayana literature
• Rnying-ma-pa
• Sa-skya-pa, Bka’-brgyud-pa, and related schools
• The Bka’-gdams-pa and Dge-lugs-pa
• Traditional literary accounts
• Shakyamuni in art and archaeology
• Literary references
• Art and archaeology
• Mythic figures in the Three Worlds cosmology
• Local gods and demons
• Female deities
• Kings and yogis
• Anniversaries
• Ullambana festival
• New Year and harvest festivals
• Buddhist pilgrimage
• Bodhisattva vows
• Funeral rites
• Protective rites
• Trends since the 19th century
• Challenges and opportunities

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• Table Of Contents

• Who was the founder of Buddhism and what inspired him to create this religion?
• What are the Four Noble Truths and how do they form the foundation of Buddhist philosophy?
• How does the concept of karma work in Buddhism and how does it influence a person's life?
• What is the Eightfold Path and how does it guide Buddhists in their daily lives?
• What are the main branches of Buddhism and how do they differ from each other?
• How has Buddhism spread from its origins in India to become a global religion?
• What role do meditation and mindfulness play in Buddhist practice?
• How does Buddhism view the concept of reincarnation or rebirth?
• What are some of the most important Buddhist texts or scriptures?
• How does Buddhism compare to other major world religions?
• What are some common Buddhist symbols and their meanings?
• How has Buddhism influenced art, literature, and culture in various parts of the world?

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Buddhism , religion and philosophy that developed from the teachings of the Buddha (Sanskrit: “Awakened One”), a teacher who lived in northern India between the mid-6th and mid-4th centuries bce (before the Common Era). Spreading from India to Central and Southeast Asia , China , Korea , and Japan , Buddhism has played a central role in the spiritual, cultural, and social life of Asia , and, beginning in the 20th century, it spread to the West.

Ancient Buddhist scripture and doctrine developed in several closely related literary languages of ancient India, especially in Pali and Sanskrit . In this article Pali and Sanskrit words that have gained currency in English are treated as English words and are rendered in the form in which they appear in English-language dictionaries. Exceptions occur in special circumstances—as, for example, in the case of the Sanskrit term dharma (Pali: dhamma ), which has meanings that are not usually associated with the term dharma as it is often used in English. Pali forms are given in the sections on the core teachings of early Buddhism that are reconstructed primarily from Pali texts and in sections that deal with Buddhist traditions in which the primary sacred language is Pali. Sanskrit forms are given in the sections that deal with Buddhist traditions whose primary sacred language is Sanskrit and in other sections that deal with traditions whose primary sacred texts were translated from Sanskrit into a Central or East Asian language such as Tibetan or Chinese .

The foundations of Buddhism

Buddhism arose in northeastern India sometime between the late 6th century and the early 4th century bce , a period of great social change and intense religious activity. There is disagreement among scholars about the dates of the Buddha’s birth and death. Many modern scholars believe that the historical Buddha lived from about 563 to about 483 bce . Many others believe that he lived about 100 years later (from about 448 to 368 bce ). At this time in India, there was much discontent with Brahmanic ( Hindu high-caste) sacrifice and ritual . In northwestern India there were ascetics who tried to create a more personal and spiritual religious experience than that found in the Vedas (Hindu sacred scriptures). In the literature that grew out of this movement, the Upanishads , a new emphasis on renunciation and transcendental knowledge can be found. Northeastern India, which was less influenced by Vedic tradition, became the breeding ground of many new sects. Society in this area was troubled by the breakdown of tribal unity and the expansion of several petty kingdoms. Religiously, this was a time of doubt, turmoil, and experimentation.

A proto-Samkhya group (i.e., one based on the Samkhya school of Hinduism founded by Kapila ) was already well established in the area. New sects abounded, including various skeptics (e.g., Sanjaya Belatthiputta), atomists (e.g., Pakudha Kaccayana), materialists (e.g., Ajita Kesakambali), and antinomians (i.e., those against rules or laws—e.g., Purana Kassapa). The most important sects to arise at the time of the Buddha, however, were the Ajivikas (Ajivakas), who emphasized the rule of fate ( niyati ), and the Jains , who stressed the need to free the soul from matter. Although the Jains, like the Buddhists, have often been regarded as atheists, their beliefs are actually more complicated. Unlike early Buddhists, both the Ajivikas and the Jains believed in the permanence of the elements that constitute the universe, as well as in the existence of the soul.

Despite the bewildering variety of religious communities , many shared the same vocabulary— nirvana (transcendent freedom), atman (“self” or “soul”), yoga (“union”), karma (“causality”), Tathagata (“one who has come” or “one who has thus gone”), buddha (“enlightened one”), samsara (“eternal recurrence” or “becoming”), and dhamma (“rule” or “law”)—and most involved the practice of yoga. According to tradition, the Buddha himself was a yogi—that is, a miracle-working ascetic .

Buddhism, like many of the sects that developed in northeastern India at the time, was constituted by the presence of a charismatic teacher, by the teachings this leader promulgated , and by a community of adherents that was often made up of renunciant members and lay supporters. In the case of Buddhism, this pattern is reflected in the Triratna —i.e., the “Three Jewels” of Buddha (the teacher), dharma (the teaching), and sangha (the community).

In the centuries following the founder’s death, Buddhism developed in two directions represented by two different groups. One was called the Hinayana (Sanskrit: “Lesser Vehicle”), a term given to it by its Buddhist opponents. This more conservative group, which included what is now called the Theravada (Pali: “Way of the Elders”) community, compiled versions of the Buddha’s teachings that had been preserved in collections called the Sutta Pitaka and the Vinaya Pitaka and retained them as normative. The other major group, which calls itself the Mahayana (Sanskrit: “Greater Vehicle”), recognized the authority of other teachings that, from the group’s point of view, made salvation available to a greater number of people. These supposedly more advanced teachings were expressed in sutras that the Buddha purportedly made available only to his more advanced disciples .

As Buddhism spread, it encountered new currents of thought and religion. In some Mahayana communities, for example, the strict law of karma (the belief that virtuous actions create pleasure in the future and nonvirtuous actions create pain) was modified to accommodate new emphases on the efficacy of ritual actions and devotional practices. During the second half of the 1st millennium ce , a third major Buddhist movement, Vajrayana (Sanskrit: “Diamond Vehicle”; also called Tantric, or Esoteric , Buddhism), developed in India. This movement was influenced by gnostic and magical currents pervasive at that time, and its aim was to obtain spiritual liberation and purity more speedily.

Despite these vicissitudes , Buddhism did not abandon its basic principles. Instead, they were reinterpreted, rethought, and reformulated in a process that led to the creation of a great body of literature. This literature includes the Pali Tipitaka (“Three Baskets”)—the Sutta Pitaka (“Basket of Discourse”), which contains the Buddha’s sermons; the Vinaya Pitaka (“Basket of Discipline”), which contains the rule governing the monastic order; and the Abhidhamma Pitaka (“Basket of Special [Further] Doctrine”), which contains doctrinal systematizations and summaries. These Pali texts have served as the basis for a long and very rich tradition of commentaries that were written and preserved by adherents of the Theravada community. The Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions have accepted as Buddhavachana (“the word of the Buddha”) many other sutras and tantras , along with extensive treatises and commentaries based on these texts. Consequently, from the first sermon of the Buddha at Sarnath to the most recent derivations, there is an indisputable continuity—a development or metamorphosis around a central nucleus—by virtue of which Buddhism is differentiated from other religions.

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Philosophy of The Self: Western Science and Eastern Karma

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• Introduction
• Buddhism in America
• The Buddhist Experience
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The Path of Awakening

Prince Siddhartha: Renouncing the World

Becoming the “Buddha”: The Way of Meditation

The Dharma: The Teachings of the Buddha

The Sangha: The Buddhist Community

The Three Treasures

The Expansion of Buddhism

As Buddhism spread through Asia, it formed distinct streams of thought and practice: the Theravada ("The Way of the Elders" in South and Southeast Asia), the Mahayana (the “Great Vehicle” in East Asia), and the Vajrayana (the “Diamond Vehicle” in Tibet), a distinctive and vibrant form of Mahayana Buddhism that now has a substantial following. ... Read more about The Expansion of Buddhism

Theravada: The Way of the Elders

Mahayana: The Great Vehicle

Vajrayana: The Diamond Vehicle

Buddhists in the American West

Discrimination and Exclusion

East Coast Buddhists

At the 1893 World’s Parliament of Religions

The 1893 World’s Parliament of Religions, held at that year's Chicago World’s Fair, gave Buddhists from Sri Lanka and Japan the chance to describe their own traditions to an audience of curious Americans. Some stressed the universal characteristics of Buddhism, and others criticized anti-Japanese sentiment in America. ... Read more about At the 1893 World’s Parliament of Religions

Internment Crisis

Building “American Buddhism”

New Asian Immigration and the Temple Boom

Popularizing Buddhism

The Image of the Buddha

Ever since the first century, Buddhists have created images and other depictions of the Buddha in metal, wood, and stone with stylized hand-positions called mudras . Images of the Buddha are often the focus of reverence and devotion. ... Read more about The Image of the Buddha

The Practice of Mindfulness

People commonly equate Buddhism with meditation, but historically very few Buddhists meditated. Those who did, however, drew from a long and rich tradition of Buddhist philosophical and contemplative practice. ... Read more about The Practice of Mindfulness

One Hand Clapping?

Sesshin: A Meditation Retreat

Intensive Zen meditation retreats, or sesshins , such as one in Mt. Temper, New York, are designed for participants to focus intensively on monastic Buddhist practice and meditation. Retreats include many rituals to allow students to fully immerse themselves in their practice—even during mealtime. ... Read more about Sesshin: A Meditation Retreat

Chanting the Sutras

Chanting scriptures and prayers to buddhas and bodhisattvas is a central practice in all streams of Buddhism, intended both to reflect upon content and to focus the mind. ... Read more about Chanting the Sutras

Creating a Mandala

Becoming a Monk

The many streams of Buddhism differ in their approaches to monasticism and initiation rituals. For example, is it common in the Theravada tradition for young men to become novice monks as a rite of passage into adulthood. In some Mahayana traditions, women can take the Triple Platform Ordination and become nuns. Meanwhile, in some Japanese traditions, priests and masters can marry and have children. ... Read more about Becoming a Monk

From Street Gangs to Temple

In Southern California, some Theravada temples have taken up the practice of granting temporary novice ordinations to Cambodian American gang members, with the hope of reorienting the youth toward their families’ religion and culture. ... Read more about From Street Gangs to Temple

Devotion to Guanyin

The compassionate bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, also known as Guanyin, is central to the practice of Chinese and Vietnamese Buddhists in America. A bodhisattva is an enlightened one who remains engaged in the world in order to enlighten all beings, and Buddhists channel the bodhisattva Guanyin by cultivating compassion for all beings in the world. ... Read more about Devotion to Guanyin

Buddha’s Birthday

Buddhists often consider the Buddha’s birthday an occasion for celebration, and Chinese, Thai, and Japanese temples in America all celebrate differently. ... Read more about Buddha’s Birthday

Remembering the Ancestors

Celebrating the New Year

Although the Lunar New Year is not a particularly “Buddhist” holiday, many Thai and Chinese Buddhists observe the occasion with celebration and visits to family and activities at Buddhist temples. ... Read more about Celebrating the New Year

Building a Pure Land on Earth

Pure Land Buddhists pay respect to Amitabha, the Buddha of Infinite Light, who created a paradise for Buddhist devotees called the “Land of Bliss.” Pure Land Buddhists in America seek to create a Pure Land here on Earth through ritual acts of devotion, care for animals and human beings, study, meditation, and acting compassionately in the public sphere. ... Read more about Building a Pure Land on Earth

Monastery in the Hudson Valley

The Chuang Yen Monastery in Kent, New York, is a prime example of how Chinese Buddhism has flourished in America, in all its richness and complexity. ... Read more about Monastery in the Hudson Valley

One Buddhism? Or Multiple Buddhisms?

There are two distinct but related histories of American Buddhism: that of Asian immigrants and that of American converts. The presence of the two communities raises such questions as: What is the difference between the Buddhism of American converts and Buddhism of Asian immigrant communities? How do we characterize the Buddhism of a new generation Asian-American youth—as a movement of preservation or transformation? ... Read more about One Buddhism? Or Multiple Buddhisms?

The Difficulties of a Monk

A reflection on American Buddhist monasticism from the Venerable Walpola Piyananda highlights the tensions that arise when immigrant Buddhism encounters American social customs that differ from those in Asia. ... Read more about The Difficulties of a Monk

Changing Patterns of Authority

American convert Buddhism and immigrant Asian Buddhism have dramatically different models of authority and institutional hierarchy. Buddhist organizations and communities in America are forced to attend to the question of how spiritual, social, financial, and organizational authorities will be dispersed among its leaders and members. ... Read more about Changing Patterns of Authority

Women in American Buddhism

American Buddhism has created new roles for women in the Buddhist tradition. American Buddhist women have been active in movements to revive the ordination lineages of Buddhist nuns in the Theravada and Vajrayana traditions. ... Read more about Women in American Buddhism

Buddhism and Social Action: Engaged Buddhism

Pioneered by the Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh in the 1970s, “Engaged Buddhism” brings a Buddhist perspective to the ongoing struggle for social and environmental justice in America. ... Read more about Buddhism and Social Action: Engaged Buddhism

Ecumenical and Interfaith Buddhism: Coming Together in America

Since the 1970s, Buddhist leaders from various traditions have engaged together in ecumenical councils and organizations to address prevalent challenges for Buddhism in North America. These events have brought together Buddhist traditions that, in the past, have had limited contact with one another. In addition, these groups have become involved in interfaith partnerships, particularly with Christian and Jewish organizations. ... Read more about Ecumenical and Interfaith Buddhism: Coming Together in America

Teaching the Love of Buddha: The Next Generation

How do Buddhists in America transmit their culture and tradition to new generations? In the Jodo Shinshu school of Japanese Buddhism, Sunday School classes have become an important religious educational tool to address this question, and its curriculum offers a particularly American approach to educating children about their tradition. ... Read more about Teaching the Love of Buddha: The Next Generation

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Silicon valley start-up aims to unlock buddhist jhana states with tech, how lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and fortune, is depicted in jainism and buddhism.

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Buddhism Timeline

7627213d930e1981366069359e5a876e, buddhism in the world (text), ca. 6th-5th c. bce life of siddhartha gautama, the buddha.

The dates of the Buddha remain a point of controversy within both the Buddhist and scholarly communities. Though many scholars today place the Buddha’s life between 460-380 BCE, according to one widely accepted traditional account, Siddhartha was born as a prince in the Shakya clan in 563 BCE. After achieving enlightenment at the age of 36, the Buddha spent the remainder of his life giving spiritual guidance to an ever-growing body of disciples. He is said to have entered into parinirvana (nirvana after death) in 483 BCE at the age of 81.

c. 480-380 BCE The First Council

Though specific dates are uncertain, a group of the Buddha’s disciples is said to have come together shortly after the Buddha’s parinirvana in hopes of establishing guidelines to ensure the continuity of the Sangha. According to tradition, as many as 500 prominent arhats gathered in Rajagriha to recite together and standardize the Buddha’s sutras (discourses on Dharma) and vinaya (rules of conduct).

c. 350 BCE The Second Council

It remains unclear if what is known as the Second Council refers to one particular assemblage of monks or if there were several meetings convened during the 4th century BCE to clarify points of controversy. It also remains unclear precisely what matters of doctrine or conduct were in dispute. What is clear is that this council resulted in the first schism in the Sangha, between the Sthaviravada and the Mahasanghika.

269-232 BCE The Spread of Buddhism Through South Asia

After witnessing the great bloodshed and suffering caused by his military campaigns, Indian Emperor Ashoka Maurya converted to Buddhism, sending missionaries throughout India and into present day Sri Lanka.

200 BCE-200 CE Emergence of Two Schools of Buddhism

Differing interpretations of the Buddha’s teachings resulted in the development of two main schools of Buddhism. The first branch, Mahayana, referred to itself as the “Great Vehicle,” and is today principally found in China, Korea, and Japan. The second branch comprised 18 schools, of which only one exists today — Theravada, or the “Way of the Elders.” Theravada Buddhism is presently followed in Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos.

65 CE First Mention of Buddhism in China

Han dynasty records note that Prince Ying of Ch’u, a half-brother of the Han emperor, provided a vegetarian feast for the Buddhist laity and monks living in his kingdom around 65 CE. This indicates that a Buddhist community had already formed there.

c. 100 CE Ashvaghosha Writes Buddhacarita

Among the early biographies of the Buddha was the Buddhacarita, written in Sanskrit by the Indian poet Ashvaghosha. Buddhacarita, literally “Life of the Buddha,” is regarded as one of the greatest epic poems of all history.

200s CE Nagarjuna Founds the Madhyamaka School

Nagarjuna is one of the most important philosophers of the Buddhist tradition. Based on his reading of the Perfection of Wisdom sutras, Nagarjuna argued that everything in the world is fundamentally sunya, or “empty” — that is, without inherent existence. This idea that the world is real yet radically impermanent and interdependent has played a central role in Buddhist philosophy.

372 CE Buddhism Introduced to Korea from China

In 372 CE the Chinese king Fu Chien sent a monk-envoy, Shun-tao, to the Koguryo court with Buddhist scriptures and images. Although all three of the kingdoms on the Korean peninsula soon embraced Buddhism, it was not until the unification of the peninsula under the Silla in 668 CE that the tradition truly flourished.

400s CE Buddhaghosa Systematizes Theravada Teachings

Buddhaghosa was a South Indian monk who played a formative role in the systematization of Theravada doctrine. After arriving in Sri Lanka in the early part of the fifth century CE, he devoted himself to editing and translating into Pali the scriptural commentaries that had accumulated in the native Sinhalese language. He also composed the Visuddhimagga, “Path of Purity,” an influential treatise on Theravada practice. From this point on, Theravada became the dominant form of Buddhism in Sri Lanka and eventually spread to Southeast Asia.

402 CE Pure Land Buddhism Established in China

In 402 CE, Hui-yuan became the first Chinese monk to form a group specifically devoted to reciting the vow to be reborn in the Western Paradise, and founded the Donglin Temple at Mount Lu for this purpose. Subsequent practitioners of Pure Land Buddhism regard Hui-yuan as the school’s founder.

520 CE Bodhidharma and Ch’an (Zen) in China

The Ch’an (Zen) school attributes its establishment to the arrival of the monk Bodhidharma in Northern China in 520 CE. There, he is said to have spent nine years meditating in front of a wall before silently transmitting the Buddha’s Dharma to Shen-Kuang, the second patriarch. All Zen masters trace their authority to this line.

552 CE Buddhism Enters Japan from Korea

In 552 CE the king of Paekche sent an envoy to Japan in hopes of gaining military support. As gifts, he sent an image of Buddha, several Buddhist scriptures, and a memorial praising Buddhism. Within three centuries of this introduction, Buddhism would become the major spiritual and intellectual force in Japan.

700s CE Vajrayana Buddhism Emerges in Tibet

Buddhist teachings and practices appear to have first made their way into Tibet in the mid-7th century CE. During the reign of King Khri-srong (c. 740-798 CE), the first Tibetan monastery was founded and the first monk ordained. For the next four hundred years, a constant flow of Tibetan monks made their way to Northern India to study at the great Buddhist universities. It was from the university of Vikramasila around the year 767 that the yogin-magician Padmasambhava is said to have carried the Vajrayana teachings to Tibet, where they soon became the dominant form of Buddhism.

1044-1077 CE Theravada Buddhism Established in Burma

Theravada Buddhism was practiced in pockets of southern Burma since about the 6th century CE. However, when King Anawrahta ascended the throne in 1044, Shin Arahan, a charismatic Mon monk from Southern Burma, convinced the new monarch to establish a more strictly Theravadin expression of Buddhism for the entire kingdom. From that time on, Theravada would remain the tradition of the majority of the Burmese people.

c. 1050 CE Development of Jogye Buddhism in Korea

The Ch’an school, which first arrived in Korea from China in the 8th century CE, eventually established nine branches, known as the Nine Mountains. In the 11th century, these branches were organized into one system under the name of Jogye. Although all Buddhist teachings were retained, the kong-an (koan) practice of Lin-chi Yixuan gained highest stature as the most direct path to enlightenment.

1100s CE Pure Land Buddhism Established in Japan

Following a reading of a Chinese Pure Land text, the Japanese monk Honen Shonin (1133-1212 CE) became convinced that the only effective mode of practice was nembutsu: chanting the name of Amitabha Buddha. This soon became a dominant form of Buddhist practice in Japan.

1100s CE Rinzai School of Zen Buddhism Established in Japan

In the 12th century CE, a Japanese monk named Eisai returned from China, bringing with him both green tea and the Rinzai school of Zen Buddhism. In the form of meditation practiced by this school, the student’s only guidance is to come from the subtle hint of a raised eyebrow, the sudden jolt of an unexpected slap, or the teacher’s direct questioning on the meaning of a koan.

1203 CE Destruction of Buddhist Centers in India

By the close of the first millennium CE, Buddhism had passed its zenith in India. Traditionally, the end of Indian Buddhism is identified with the advent of Muslim Rule in Northern India. The Turk Muhammad Ghuri razed the last two great Buddhist universities, Nalanda and Vikramasila, in 1197 and 1203 respectively. However, recent histories have suggested that the destruction of these monasteries was militarily, rather than religiously, motivated.

1200s CE True Pure Land Buddhism Established

Honen’s disciple Shinran Shonin (1173-1262 CE) began the devotional “True Pure Land” movement in the 13th century CE. Considering the lay/monk distinction invalid, Shinran married and had several children, thereby initiating the practice of married Jodo Shinshu clergy and establishing a familial lineage of leadership — traits which continue to distinguish the school to this day.

1200s CE Dōgen Founds Soto Zen in Japan

Dōgen (1200-1253 CE), an influential Japanese priest and philosopher, spent most of his two years in China studying T’ien-t’ai Buddhism. Disappointed by the intellectualism of the school, he was about to return to Japan when the Ts’ao-tung monk Ju-ching (Rujing) explained that the practice of Zen simply meant “dropping off both body and mind.” Dōgen, immediately enlightened, returned to Japan, establishing Soto (the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese graphs for Ts’ao-tung) as one of the pre-eminent schools.

1253 CE Nichiren Buddhism Established in Japan

As the sun began to rise on May 17, 1253 CE, Nichiren Daishonin climbed to the crest of a hill, where he cried out “Namu Myoho Renge Kyo,” “Adoration to the Sutra of the Lotus of the Perfect Truth.” Nichiren considered the recitation of this mantra to be the core of the true teachings of the Buddha. He believed that it would eventually spread throughout the world, a conviction sustained by contemporary sects of the Nichiren school, especially the Soka Gakkai.

1279-1360 CE Theravada Buddhism Established in Southeast Asia

With Kublai Khan’s conquest of China in the thirteenth century CE, ever greater numbers of Tai migrated from southwestern China into present day Thailand and Burma. There, they established political domination over the indigenous Mon and Khmer peoples, while appropriating elements of these cultures, including their Buddhist faith. By the time that King Rama Khamhaeng had ascended the throne in Sukhothai (central Thailand) in 1279, a monk had been sent to Sri Lanka to receive Theravadin texts. During the reigns of Rama Khamhaeng’s son and grandson, Sinhala Buddhism spread northward to the Tai Kingdom of Chiangmai. Within a century, the royal houses of Cambodia and Laos also became Theravadin.

1391-1474 CE The First Dalai Lama

Gedun Drupa (1391-1474 CE), a Tibetan monk of great esteem during his lifetime, was considered after his death to have been the first Dalai Lama. He founded the major monastery of Tashi Lhunpo at Shigatse, which would become the traditional seat of Panchen Lamas (second only to the Dalai Lama).

1881 CE Founding of Pali Text Society

Ever since its founding by the British scholar T.W. Rhys Davids in 1881 CE, the Pali Text Society has been the primary publisher of Theravada texts and translations into Western languages.

1891 CE Anagarika Dharmapala Founds Mahabodhi Society

Sri Lankan writer Anagarika Dharmapala played an important role in restoring Bodh-Gaya, the site of the Buddha’s enlightenment, which had badly deteriorated after centuries of neglect. In order to raise funds for this project, Dharmapala founded the Mahabodhi Society, first in Ceylon and later in India, the United States, and Britain. He also edited the society’s periodical, The Mahabodhi Journal.

1930 CE Soka Gakkai Established in Japan

Soka Gakkai is a Japanese Buddhist movement that was begun in 1930 CE by an educator named Tsunesaburo Makiguchi. Soon after its founding, it became associated with Nichiren Shoshu, a sect of Nichiren Buddhism. Today the organization has over twelve million members around the world.

1938 CE Rissho Kosei-Kai Established in Japan

The Rissho Kosei-Kai movement was founded by the Rev. Nikkyo Niwano in 1938 CE, and is based on the teachings set forth in the Lotus Sutra and works for individual and world peace. Rev. Niwano was awarded the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion in 1979 and honored by the Vatican in 1992. The Rissho Kosei-Kai has since been active in interfaith activities throughout the world.

1949 CE Buddhist Sangha Flees Mainland China

With the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, Buddhist monks and nuns fled to Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Singapore. Many of these monks and nuns subsequently immigrated to Australia, Europe and the United States.

1950 CE World Fellowship of Buddhists Inaugurated in Sri Lanka

The World Fellowship of Buddhists was established in 1950 CE in Sri Lanka to bring Buddhists together in promoting common goals. Since 1969, its permanent headquarters have been in Thailand, with regional offices in 34 different countries.

1956 CE Buddhist Conversions in India

On October 14, 1956 CE, Bhim Rao Ambedkar (1891-1956), India’s leader of Hindu untouchables, publicly converted to Buddhism as part of a political protest. As many as half a million of his followers also took the three refuges and five precepts on that day. In the following years, over four million Indians, chiefly from the castes of untouchables, declared themselves Buddhists.

1959 CE Dalai Lama Flees to India

With the Chinese occupation of Tibet, the Dalai Lama, the Karmapa, and other Vajrayana Buddhist leaders fled to India. A Tibetan government in exile was established in Dharamsala, India.

1966 CE Thich Nhat Hanh Visits the U.S. and Western Europe

Thich Nhat Hanh is a Vietnamese monk, teacher, and peace activist. While touring the U.S. in 1966, Nhat Hanh was outspoken against the American-supported Saigon government. As a result of his criticism, Nhat Hanh faced certain imprisonment upon his return to Vietnam. He therefore decided to take asylum in France, where he founded Plum Village, today an important center for meditation and action.

1975 CE Devastation of Buddhism in Cambodia

Pol Pot’s Marxist regime came to power in Cambodia in 1975 CE. Over the four years of his governance, most of Cambodia’s 3,600 Buddhist temples were destroyed. The Sangha was left with an estimated 3,000 of its 50,000 monks. The rest did not survive the persecution.

1989 CE Founding of the International Network of Engaged Buddhists (INEB)

The International Network of Engaged Buddhists (INEB) began in Thailand in 1989 as a conference of 36 monks and lay persons from 11 countries. Today, it has expanded to 160 members and affiliates from 26 countries. As its name suggests, INEB endeavors to facilitate Buddhist participation in social action in order to create a just and peaceful world.

1989 CE Dalai Lama Receives Nobel Peace Prize

Tenzin Gyatso, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 for his tireless work spreading a message of non-violence. He has said on many occasions about Buddhism, “My religion is very simple – my religion is kindness.”

2010 CE Western Buddhist Teachers call for U.S. Commission of Inquiry to Burma

In 2010, prominent Buddhist teachers in the U.S. signed a letter to President Barack Obama urging him to repudiate the results of the upcoming Burmese election, in light of crimes against ethnic groups committed by the Burmese military regime.

With over 520 million followers, Buddhism is currently the world’s fourth-largest religious tradition. Though Theravada and Mahayana are its two major branches, contemporary Buddhism comprises a wide diversity of practices, beliefs, and traditions — both throughout East and Southeast Asia and worldwide.

Buddhism in America (text)

1853 ce the first chinese temple in “gold mountain”.

Attracted by the 1850s Gold Rush, many Chinese workers and miners came to California, which they called “Gold Mountain” — and brought their Buddhist and Taoist traditions with them. In 1853, they built the first Buddhist temple in San Francisco’s Chinatown. By 1875, Chinatown was home to eight temples, and by the end of the century, there were hundreds of Chinese temples and shrines along the West Coast.

1878 CE Kuan-yin in Hawaii

In 1878, the monk Leong Dick Ying brought to Honolulu gold-leaf images of the Taoist sage Kuan Kung and the bodhisattva of compassion Kuan-yin. He thus established the Kuan-yin Temple, which is the oldest Chinese organization in Hawaii. The Temple has been located on Vineland Avenue in Honolulu since 1921.

1879 CE The Light of Asia Comes West

Sir Edwin Arnold’s The Light of Asia, a biography of the Buddha in verse, was published in 1879. This immensely popular book, which went through eighty editions and sold over half a million copies, gave many Americans their first introduction to the Buddha.

1882 CE The Chinese Exclusion Act

Two decades of growing anti-Chinese sentiment in the U.S. led to the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882. The act barred new Chinese immigration for ten years, including that by women trying to join their husbands who were already in the U.S., and prohibited the naturalization of Chinese people.

1893 CE Buddhists at the Parliament of the World’s Religions

The 1893 Parliament of the World’s Religions, held in Chicago in conjunction with the World Columbian Exposition, included representatives of many strands of the Buddhist tradition: Anagarika Dharmapala (Sri Lankan Maha Bodhi Society), Shaku Soyen (Japanese Rinzai Zen), Toki Horyu (Shingon), Ashitsu Jitsunen (Tendai), Yatsubuchi Banryu (Jodo Shin), and Hirai Kinzo (a Japanese lay Buddhist). Days after the Parliament, in a ceremony conducted by Anagarika Dharmapala, Charles T. Strauss of New York City became the first person to be ordained into the Buddhist Sangha on American soil.

1894 CE The Gospel of Buddha

The Gospel of Buddha was an influential book published by Paul Carus in 1894. The book brought a selection of Buddhist texts together in readable fashion for a popular audience. By 1910, The Gospel of Buddha had been through 13 editions.

1899 CE Jodo Shinshu Buddhism and the Buddhist Churches of America

The Young Men’s Buddhist Association (Bukkyo Seinenkai), the first Japanese Buddhist organization on the U.S. mainland, was founded in 1899 under the guidance of Jodo Shinshu missionaries Rev. Dr. Shuya Sonoda and Rev. Kakuryo Nishijima. The following years saw temples established in Sacramento (1899), Fresno (1900), Seattle (1901), Oakland (1901), San Jose (1902), Portland (1903), and Stockton (1906). This organization, initially called the Jodo Shinshu Buddhist Mission of North America, went on to become the Buddhist Churches of America (incorporated in 1944). Today, it is the largest Buddhist organization serving Japanese-Americans, entailing some 60 temples and a membership of about 19,000.

1900 CE First Non-Asian Buddhist Association

In 1900, a group of Euro-Americans attracted to the Buddhist teachings of the Jodo Shinshu organized the Dharma Sangha of the Buddha in San Francisco.

1915 CE World Buddhist Conference

Buddhists from throughout the world gathered in San Francisco in August 1915 at a meeting convened by the Jodo Shinshu Buddhist Mission of North America. Resolutions from the conference were taken to President Woodrow Wilson.

1931 CE Sokei-an and Zen in New York

The Buddhist Society of America was incorporated in New York in 1931 under the guidance of Rinzai Zen teacher Sokei-an. Sokei-an first came to the U.S. in 1906 to study with Shokatsu Shaku in California, though he completed his training in Japan where he was ordained in 1931. Sokei-an died of poor health in 1945, after having spent two years in a Japanese internment camp. The center he established in New York City would evolve into the First Zen Institute of America.

1935 CE Relics of the Buddha to San Francisco

In 1935, a portion of the Buddha’s relics was presented to Bishop Masuyama of the Jodo Shinshu Buddhist Mission of North America, based in San Francisco. This led to the construction of a new Buddhist Church of San Francisco, with a stupa on its roof for the holy relics, located on Pine Street and completed in 1938.

1942 CE Internment of Japanese Americans

Two months after Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 which eventually removed 120,000 Japanese Americans, both citizens and noncitizens, to internment camps where they remained until the end of World War II. Buddhist priests and other community leaders were among the first to be targeted and evacuated. Zen teachers Sokei-an and Nyogen Senzaki were both interned. Buddhist organizations continued to serve the internees in the camps.

1949 CE Buddhist Studies Center in Berkeley

The Buddhist Studies Center was first established in 1949 in Berkeley, California, under the auspices of the Buddhist Churches of America. In 1966, the center changed its name to the Institute of Buddhist Studies and became the first seminary for Buddhist ministry and research. The Institute affiliated with the Graduate Theological Union in 1985, and today is active in training clergy for the Buddhist Churches of America.

1955 CE Beat Zen and Zen Literature

The Beat Movement was started by American authors who explored American pop culture and politics in the post-war era, with strong themes from Eastern spirituality. The first public reading of the poem “Howl” by Allen Ginsberg in 1955 at the Six Gallery in San Francisco is said to have signalled the beginning of the Beat Zen movement. The late 1950s also saw a Zen literary boom in the U.S. Several popular books on Buddhism were published, including Alan Watt’s bestseller The Way of Zen and Jack Kerouac’s The Dharma Bums.

1960 CE Soka Gakkai in the U.S.

Daisaku Ikeda, President of Soka Gakkai, visited the United States in 1960, largely introducing Soka Gakkai to Americans. By 1992, Soka Gakkai International–USA estimated that it had 150,000 American members.

1965 CE Immigration and Nationality Act

The 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act ended the quota system which had virtually halted immigration from Asia to the United States for over forty years. Following 1965, growing numbers of Asian immigrants from South, Southeast, and East Asia settled in America; many brought Buddhist traditions with them.

1966 CE The Vietnam Conflict and Thich Nhat Hanh in America

The Vietnam conflict incited a surge of Buddhist activism in Saigon, which included some monks immolating themselves as an act of protest. In response, U.S. Secretary of State Henry Cabot Lodge met with Vietnamese and Japanese Buddhist leaders, and the State Department established an Office of Buddhist Affairs headed by Claremont College Professor Richard Gard. In 1966, Vietnamese monk and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh came to the United States to speak about the conflict. His visit, coupled with the English publication of his book, Lotus in a Sea of Fire, so impressed Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. that King nominated Nhat Hanh for the Nobel Peace Prize.

1966 CE First Buddhist Monastery in Washington D.C.

The Washington Buddhist Vihara was the first Sri Lankan Buddhist temple in America. It was established in Washington, D.C. in 1966 as a missionary center with the support of the Sri Lankan government. The Ven. Bope Vinita Thera brought an image and a relic of the Buddha to the nation’s capital in 1965. The following year, the Vihara was incorporated, and in 1968, it moved to its present location on 16th Street, NW.

1969 CE Tibetan Center in Berkeley

Tarthang Tulku, a Tibetan monk educated at Banaras Hindu University in India, came to Berkeley and in 1969 established the Nyingma Meditation Center, the first Tibetan Buddhist center in the U.S.

1970 CE Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche to America

Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche was an Oxford-educated Tibetan teacher who brought the Karma Kagyu Tibetan Buddhist lineage to the U.S. in 1970. In 1971, he established Karma Dzong in Boulder, Colorado, and in 1973, he founded Vajradhatu, an organization consolidating many Dharmadhatu centers. Cutting through Spiritual Materialism, his classic introduction to Trungpa’s form of Tibetan Buddhism, was published in 1973.

1970 CE International Buddhist Meditation Center

The International Buddhist Meditation Center was established by Ven. Dr. Thich Thien-An, a Vietnamese Zen Master, in Los Angeles in 1970. The College of Buddhist Studies is also located on the grounds of the Center, which is currently under the direction of Thien-An’s student, Ven. Karuna Dharma.

1972 CE Korean Zen Master comes to Rhode Island

Korean Zen Master Seung Sahn came to the United States in 1972 with little money and little knowledge of English. He rented an apartment in Providence and worked as a washing machine repairman. A note on his door said simply, “What am I?” and announced meditation classes. Thus began the Providence Zen Center, followed soon by Korean Zen Centers in Cambridge, New Haven, New York, and Berkeley, all part of the Kwan Um School of Zen.

1974 CE Buddhist Chaplain in California

In 1974, the California State Senate appointed Rev. Shoko Masunaga as its first Buddhist and first Asian-American chaplain.

1974 CE First Buddhist Liberal Arts College

Naropa Institute was founded in Boulder, Colorado in 1974 as a Buddhist-inspired but non-sectarian liberal arts college. It aimed to combine contemplative studies with traditional Western scholastic and artistic disciplines. The accredited college now offers courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels in Buddhist studies, contemplative psychotherapy, environmental studies, poetics, and dance.

1974 CE Redress for Internment of Japanese Americans

In 1974, Rep. Phillip Burton of California addressed the U.S. House of Representatives on the topic “Seventy-five Years of American Buddhism” as part of an ongoing debate surrounding redress for Japanese Americans interned during World War II.

1975 CE The Fall of Saigon and the Arrival of Refugees

About 130,000 Vietnamese refugees, many of them Buddhists, came to the U.S. in 1975 after the fall of Saigon. By 1985 there were 643,200 Vietnamese in the U.S. Dr. Thich Thien-an, a Vietnamese monk and scholar already in Los Angeles, began the first Vietnamese Buddhist temple in America – the Chua Vietnam – in 1976. The temple is still thriving on Berendo Street, not far from central Los Angeles. With the end of the war, some 70,000 Laotian, 60,000 Hmong, and 10,000 Mien people also arrived in the U.S. as refugees bringing their religious traditions, including Buddhism, with them.

1976 CE Council of Thai Bhikkhus

The Council of Thai Bhikkhus, a nonprofit corporation founded in 1976 and based in Denver, Colorado, became the leading nationwide network for Thai Buddhism.

1976 CE City of 10,000 Buddhas

The City of 10,000 Buddhas was established in 1976 in Talmage, California by the Dharma Realm Buddhist Association as the first Chinese Buddhist monastery for both monks and nuns. The City of 10,000 Buddhas consists of sixty buildings, including elementary and secondary schools and a university, on a 237-acre site.

1976 CE First Rinzai Zen Monastery

On July 4 1976, Dai Bosatsu Zendo Kongo-ji, America’s first Rinzai Zen monastery, was established in Lew Beach, New York, under the direction of Eido Tai Shimano-roshi.

1979-1989 CE Cambodian Refugees Come to the U.S.

The regime of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge ended in 1979 with the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia. Over the following ten years, 180,000 Cambodian refugees were relocated from Thailand to the United States. In 1979, the Cambodian Buddhist Society was established in Silver Spring, Maryland, as the first Cambodian Buddhist temple in America. Later in 1987, the nearly 40,000 Cambodian residents of Long Beach, California, purchased the former headquarters of the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers Union and converted the huge building into a temple complex.

1980 CE First Burmese Temple

Dhammodaya Monastery, the first Burmese Buddhist temple in America, was established in Los Angeles in 1980.

1980 CE Buddhist Sangha Council

The Buddhist Sangha Council of Los Angeles (later of Southern California) was established under the leadership of the Ven. Havanpola Ratanasara in 1980. It was one of the first cross-cultural, inter-Buddhist organizations, bringing together monks and other leaders from a wide range of Buddhist traditions.

1986 CE Buddhist Astronaut on Challenger

Lt. Col. Ellison Onizuka, a Hawaiian-born Jodo Shinshu Buddhist, was killed 73 seconds after takeoff in the space shuttle Challenger in 1986. He was the first Asian-American to reach space.

1987 CE American Buddhists Get Organized

For ten days in July of 1987, Buddhists from all the Buddhist lineages in North America came together in Ann Arbor, Michigan, for a Conference on World Buddhism in North America — intended to promote dialogue, mutual understanding, and cooperation. In the same year, the Buddhist Council of the Midwest gathered twelve Chicago-area lineages of Buddhism; in Los Angeles, the American Buddhist Congress was created, with 47 Buddhist organizations attending its inaugural convention. Also in 1987, the Sri Lanka Sangha Council of North America was established in Los Angeles to serve as the national network for Sri Lankan Buddhism.

1987 CE Buddhist Books Gain Wider Audience

In 1987, Joseph Goldstein and Jack Kornfield published what became a classic book on vipassana meditation – Seeking the Heart of Wisdom: The Path of Insight Meditation. Thich Nhat Hanh, who was residing at Plum Village in France and visiting the United States annually, also published Being Peace, a classic treatment of “engaged Buddhism” – Buddhism that is concerned with social and ecological issues.

1990s CE Popular Buddhism

Throughout the 1990s, immigrant and American-born Buddhist communities were growing and building across the United States. In the midst of this flourishing, there emerged a popular “Hollywood Buddhism” or a Buddhism of celebrities which persists today. Espoused by figures from Tina Turner to the Beastie Boys to bell hooks, Buddhism became a larger part of mass culture during the 90s.

1991 CE Tricycle: the Buddhist Review

The first issue of Tricycle: the Buddhist Review, a non-sectarian national Buddhist magazine, was published in 1991. The journal features articles by prominent Buddhist teachers and writers as well as pieces on Buddhism and American culture at large.

1991 CE Tibetan Resettlement in the United States

The National Office of the Tibetan Resettlement Project was established in New York in 1991 after the U.S. Congress granted 1,000 special visas for Tibetans, all of them Buddhists. Two years later, the Tibetan Community Assistance Program opened to assist Tibetans resettling in New York. Cluster groups of Tibetan refugees have since established their own small temples and have begun to encounter Euro-American practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism.

1991 CE Dalai Lama in Madison Square Garden

For more than a week in October in 1991, the Dalai Lama gave the “Path of Compassion” teachings and conferred the Kalachakra Initiation in Madison Square Garden in New York City.

1993 CE Centennial of the World’s Parliament of Religions

There were many prominent Buddhist speakers at the 1993 Centennial of the World’s Parliament of Religions in Chicago, among them Thich Nhat Hanh, Master Seung Sahn, the Ven. Mahaghosananda, and the Ven. Dr. Havanpola Ratanasara. The Dalai Lama gave the closing address. There were myriad Buddhist co-sponsors of the event, including the American Buddhist Congress, Buddhist Churches of America, Buddhist Council of the Midwest, World Fellowship of Buddhists, and Wat Thai of Washington, D.C.

2006 CE American Monk Named First U.S. Representative to World Buddhist Supreme Conference

In 2006, Venerable Bhante Vimalaramsi (Sayadaw Gyi U Vimalaramsi Maha Thera) was nominated and confirmed as the first representative from the United States for the World Buddhist Supreme Conference, which is held every two years and includes representatives from fifty countries.

2007 CE First Buddhist Congresswoman Sworn In

Rep. Mazie Hirono, a Democrat from Hawaii, in 2007 became the first Buddhist to be sworn into the United States Congress.

Today, Buddhism thrives in America, with American Buddhists comprising myriad backgrounds, identities, and religious traditions and often integrating Buddhism with other forms of spiritual practice. It is estimated that there are roughly 3.5 million Buddhist practitioners in the United States at present. Many live in Hawaii or Southern California, but there are surely followers of Buddhism around the nation.

Selected Publications & Links

Takaki, Ronald . A Different Mirror . Boston: Little, Brown & Co. 1993.

Sidor, Ellen S . A Gathering of Spirit: Women Teaching in American Buddhism . Cumberland: Primary Point Press, 1987.

Tweed, Thomas A., and Stephen Prothero (eds.) . Asian Religions in America: A Documentary History . New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.

Access to Insight

America burma buddhist association, american buddhist congress, buddha’s light international association, buddhist churches of america, explore buddhism in greater boston.

Buddhism arrived in Boston in the 19th century with the first Chinese immigrants to the city and a growing intellectual interest in Buddhist arts and practice. Boston’s first Buddhist center was the Cambridge Buddhist Association (1957). The post-1965 immigration brought new immigrants into the city—from Cambodia and Vietnam, as well as Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Korea. These groups brought with them a variety of Buddhist traditions, now practiced at over 90 area Buddhist centers and temples. Representing nearly every ethnicity, age, and social strata, the Buddhist community of Greater Boston is a vibrant presence in the city.

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Buddhism as Philosophy: Fundamental Themes

Jeffery D. Long, Discovering Indian Philosophy: An Introduction to Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist Thought (2024)

Andy Karr, Into the Mirror: A Buddhist Journey through Mind, Matter, and the Nature of Reality (2023)

Tyler Dalton McNabb & Erik Daniel Baldwin, Classical Theism and Buddhism: Connecting Metaphysical and Ethical Systems (2023)

Zhihua Yao, Nonexistent Objects in Buddhist Philosophy: On Knowing What There Is Not (2023)

Haidy Geismar et al (eds.), Impermanence: Exploring Continuous Change Across Cultures (2022)

Roger R. Jackson, Rebirth: A Guide to Mind, Karma, and Cosmos in the Buddhist World (2022)

Harrison J. Pemberton, The Buddha Meets Socrates: A Philosopher's Journal (2022)

Rick Repetti (ed.), Routledge Handbook on the Philosophy of Meditation (2022)

Avram Alpert, A Partial Enlightenment: What Modern Literature and Buddhism Can Teach Us about Living Well without Perfection (2021)

Bhikkhu Analayo, Superiority Conceit in Buddhist Traditions: A Historical Perspective (2021)

Zane M. Diamond, Gautama Buddha: Education for Wisdom (2021)

C.W. Huntington, What I Don't Know about Death: Reflections on Buddhism and Mortality (2021)

Jianxun Shi, Mapping the Buddhist Path to Liberation: Diversity and Consistency Based on the Pali Nikayas and the Chinese Agamas (2021)

Mark Siderits, How Things Are: An Introduction to Buddhist Metaphysics (2021)

Peter D. Hershock & Roger T. Ames (eds.), Human Beings or Human Becomings? A Conversation with Confucianism on the Concept of Person (2021)

Y. Karunadasa, The Buddhist Analysis of Matter (2020)

Mark Siderits et al (ed.), Buddhist Philosophy of Consciousness: Tradition and Dialogue (2020)

Jan Westerhoff, The Non-Existence of the Real World (2020)

Graham Priest, The Fifth Corner of Four: An Essay on Buddhist Metaphysics and the Catuskoti (2019)

Vajragupta Staunton, Free Time! From Clock-Watching to Free-Flowing: A Buddhist Guide (2019)

David Burton, Buddhism: A Contemporary Philosophical Investigation (2017)

Steven M. Emmanuel (ed.), Buddhist Philosophy: A Comparative Approach (2017)

Bryan W. Van Norden, Taking Back Philosophy: A Multicultural Manifesto (2017)

Mark Siderits, Studies in Buddhist Philosophy, ed. Jan Westerhoff (2016)

Marcus Boon, Eric M. Cazdyn, & Timothy Morton, Nothing: Three Inquiries in Buddhism (2015)

Jay L. Garfield, Engaging Buddhism: Why It Matters to Philosophy (2015)

JeeLoo Liu & Douglas Berger (eds.), Nothingness in Asian Philosophy (2014)

Steven M. Emmanuel (ed.), A Companion to Buddhist Philosophy (2013)

Cyrus Panjvani, Buddhism: A Philosophical Approach (2013)

Mark Siderits, Evan Thompson, & Dan Zahavi (eds.), Self, No Self? Perspectives from Analytical, Phenomenological, and Indian Traditions (2013)

Robin Cooper (Ratnaprabha), Finding the Mind: A Buddhist View (2012)

John Danvers, Agents of Uncertainty: Mysticism, Scepticism, Buddhism, Art and Poetry (2012)

Louis de La Vallée Poussin, The Way to Nirvana: Six Lectures on Ancient Buddhism as a Discipline of Salvation (2012)

Musashi Tachikawa, Essays in Buddhist Theology (2012)

Johannes Bronkhorst, Karma (2011)

Alf Hiltebeitel, Dharma: Its Early History in Law, Religion, and Narrative (2011)

Dhivan Thomas Jones, This Being, That Becomes: The Buddha's Teaching on Conditionality (2011)

Erich Frauwallner, The Philosophy of Buddhism [Die Philosophie des Buddhismus], trans. Gelong Lodro Sangpo & Jigme Sheldron (2010)

Rodney Smith, Stepping Out of Self-Deception: The Buddha's Liberating Teaching of No-Self (2010)

William Edelglass & Jay Garfield (eds.), Buddhist Philosophy: Essential Readings (2009)

Dan Arnold, Buddhists, Brahmins, and Belief: Epistemology in South Asian Philosophy of Religion (2008)

George Grimm, Buddhist Wisdom: The Mystery of the Self (2008)

Stephen J. Laumakis, An Introduction to Buddhist Philosophy (2008)

Sangharakshita, The Meaning of Conversion in Buddhism (2008)

Dharmachari Subhuti, Buddhism and Friendship (2008)

Sangharakshita, The Buddha's Noble Eightfold Path (2007)

Mark Siderits, Buddhism as Philosophy: An Introduction (2007)

Lama Shenpen Hookham, There's More to Dying Than Death: A Buddhist Perspective (2006)

Bruce Matthews, Craving and Salvation: A Study in Buddhist Soteriology (2006)

Sangharakshita, The Three Jewels: The Central Ideals of Buddhism (2006)

Jennifer Crawford, Spiritually-Engaged Knowledge: The Attentive Heart (2005)

John Taber (ed. & trans.), A Hindu Critique of Buddhist Epistemology: Kumarila on Perception (2005)

Fernando Tola & Carmen Dragonetti, On Voidness: A Study of Buddhist Nihilism (2005)

David Burton, Buddhism, Knowledge and Liberation: A Philosophical Study (2004)

Richard H. Jones, Mysticism and Morality: A New Look at Old Questions (2004)

Maitreyabandhu, Thicker Than Blood: Friendship on the Buddhist Path (2004)

Nagapriya, Exploring Karma and Rebirth (2004)

Sangharakshita, Buddha Mind (2004)

Sangharakshita, Living with Kindness: The Buddha's Teaching on Metta (2004)

John W. Schroeder, Skillful Means: The Heart of Buddhist Compassion (2004)

Brook Ziporyn, Being and Ambiguity: Philosophical Experiments with Tiantai Buddhism (2004)

Christina Feldman, Compassion: Listening to the Cries of the World (2003)

Vincent L. Wimbush & Richard Valantasis (eds.), Asceticism (2002)

Rupert Gethin, The Buddhist Path to Awakening: A Study of the Bodhi-Pakkhiya Dhamma (2001)

David J. Kalupahana, Buddhist Thought and Ritual (2001)

Michael C. Brannigan, The Pulse of Wisdom: The Philosophies of India, China, and Japan (1999)

Duncan Forbes, The Buddhist Pilgrimage, ed. Alex Wayman (1999)

Roger R. Jackson & John J. Makransky (eds.), Buddhist Theology: Critical Reflections by Contemporary Buddhist Scholars (1999)

Jamie Hubbard & Paul L. Swanson (eds.), Pruning the Bodhi Tree: The Storm over Critical Buddhism (1997)

Alex Wayman, Untying the Knots in Buddhism: Selected Essays (1997)

Newman Robert Glass, Working Emptiness: Toward a Third Reading of Emptiness in Buddhism and Postmodern Thought (1995)

Kaisa Puhakka, Knowledge and Reality: A Comparative Study of Divine and Some Buddhist Logicians (1994)

Robert E. Buswell & Robert M. Gimello (eds.), Paths to Liberation: The Marga and Its Transformations in Buddhist Thought (1992)

Jan Nattier, Once upon a Future Time: Studies in a Buddhist Prophecy of Decline (1992)

John M. Koller & Patricia Koller (eds.), Sourcebook in Asian Philosophy (1991)

Gail Hinich Sutherland, The Disguises of the Demon: The Development of the Yaksa in Hinduism and Buddhism (1991)

Gregory Darling, An Evaluation of the Vedantic Critique of Buddhism (1987)

Martin Willson, Rebirth and the Western Buddhist (1987)

Alphonse Verdu, The Philosophy of Buddhism: A "Totalistic" Synthesis (1981)

John r. carter, dhamma: western academic and sinhalese buddhist interpretations: a study of a religious concept (1978).

W.H. Weeraratne, Individual and Society in Buddhism (1977)

David J. Kalupahana, Buddhist Philosophy: A Historical Analysis (1976)

William M. McGovern, A Manual of Buddhist Philosophy (1976)

David J. Kalupahana, Causality: The Central Philosophy of Buddhism (1975)

Francis Story, Rebirth as Doctrine and Experience: Essays and Case Studies (1975)

Junjiro Takakusu, Wing-Tsit Chan & Charles A. Moore (eds.), The Essentials of Buddhist Philosophy (1975)

John E. Blofeld, Beyond the Gods: Taoist and Buddhist Mysticism (1974)

Herbert V. Guenther, Buddhist Philosophy in Theory and Practice (1972)

Daigan L. Matsunaga & Alicia Matsunaga, The Buddhist Concept of Hell (1971)

Ven. nyanaponika & maurice walshe (eds.), pathways of buddhist thought: essays from the wheel (1971).

T. Stcherbatsky, The Central Conception of Buddhism and the Meaning of the Word "Dharma" (1961)

This book is a collection of essays by Mark Siderits on topics in Indian Buddhist philosophy. The essays are divided into six main systematic sections, dealing with realism and anti-realism, further problems in metaphysics and logic, philosophy of language, epistemology, ethics, and specific discussions of the interaction between Buddhist and classical Indian philosophy. Each of the essays is followed by a postscript Siderits has written specifically for this volume, which make it possible to connect essays of the volume with each other, showing thematic interrelations, or locating them relative to the development of Siderits’s thought. New works have been published, new translations have come out, and additional connections have been discovered. The postscripts make it possible to acquaint the reader with the most important of these developments.

This book is the most comprehensive single volume on the subject available. It offers the very latest scholarship to create a wide-ranging survey of the most important ideas, problems, and debates in the history of Buddhist philosophy. Encompasses the broadest treatment of Buddhist philosophy available, covering social and political thought, meditation, ecology and contemporary issues and applications Each section contains overviews and cutting-edge scholarship that expands readers understanding of the breadth and diversity of Buddhist thought. Broad coverage of topics allows flexibility to instructors in creating a syllabus. Essays provide valuable alternative philosophical perspectives on topics to those available in Western traditions.

This book examines how the Brahmanical tradition of Purva Mimamsa and the writings of the seventh-century Buddhist Madhyamika philosopher Candrakirti challenged dominant Indian Buddhist views of epistemology. Arnold retrieves these two very different but equally important voices of philosophical dissent, showing them to have developed highly sophisticated and cogent critiques of influential Buddhist epistemologists such as Dignaga and Dharmakirti. His analysis—developed in conversation with modern Western philosophers like William Alston and J.L. Austin—offers an innovative reinterpretation of the Indian philosophical tradition, while suggesting that pre-modern Indian thinkers have much to contribute to contemporary philosophical debates.

Buddhism is essentially a teaching about liberation - from suffering, ignorance, selfishness and continued rebirth. Knowledge of 'the way things really are' is thought by many Buddhists to be vital in bringing about this emancipation. This book is a philosophical study of the notion of liberating knowledge as it occurs in a range of Buddhist sources. Burton assesses the common Buddhist idea that knowledge of the three characteristics of existence (impermanence, not-self and suffering) is the key to liberation. It argues that this claim must be seen in the context of the Buddhist path and training as a whole. Detailed attention is also given to anti-realist, sceptical and mystical strands within the Buddhist tradition, all of which make distinctive claims about liberating knowledge.

Ecology, Economics, Globalization, and the Environment

Susan Bauer-Wu, A Future We Can Love: How We Can Reverse the Climate Crisis with the Power of Our Hearts & Minds (2023)

Susan Murphy, A Fire Runs Through All Things: Zen Koans for Facing the Climate Crisis (2023)

Trine Brox & Elizabeth Williams-Oerberg (eds.), Buddhism and Waste: The Excess, Discard and Afterlife of Buddhist Consumption (2022)

Daniel Capper, Buddhist Ecological Protection of Space: A Guide for Sustainable Off-Earth Travel (2022)

Jeanine M. Canty, Returning the Self to Nature: Undoing Our Collective Narcissism and Healing Our Planet (2022)

Daniel Capper, Roaming Free Like a Deer: Buddhism and the Natural World (2022)

David Hinton, Wild Mind, Wild Earth: Our Place in the Sixth Extinction (2022)

Joel Magnuson, The Dharma and Socially Engaged Buddhist Economics (2022)

Christoph Brumann et al (eds.), Monks, Money, and Morality: The Balancing Act of Contemporary Buddhism (2021)

Josep M. Coll, Buddhist and Taoist Systems Thinking: The Natural Path to Sustainable Transformation (2021)

Sallie B. King, Buddhist Visions of the Good Life for All (2021)

Gábor Kovács, The Value Orientations of Buddhist and Christian Entrepreneurs: A Comparative Perspective on Spirituality and Business Ethics (2021)

Shantigarbha, The Burning House: A Buddhist Response to the Climate and Ecological Emergency (2021)

Trine Brox & Elizabeth Williams-Oerberg, Buddhism and Business: Merit, Material Wealth, and Morality in the Global Market Economy (2020)

Alex John Catanese, Buddha in the Marketplace: The Commodification of Buddhist Objects in Tibet (2020)

Ernest C.H. Ng, Introduction to Buddhist Economics: The Relevance of Buddhist Values in Contemporary Economy and Society (2020)

Geoffrey Barstow (ed.), The Faults of Meat: Tibetan Buddhist Writings on Vegetarianism (2019)

Geoffrey Barstow, Food of Sinful Demons: Meat, Vegetarianism, and the Limits of Buddhism in Tibet (2019)

Candi K. Cann (ed.), Dying to Eat: Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Food, Death, and the Afterlife (2019)

Gergely Hidas, A Buddhist Ritual Manual on Agriculture: A Critical Edition (2019)

Stephanie Kaza, Green Buddhism: Practice and Compassionate Action in Uncertain Times (2019)

Belden C. Lane, The Great Conversation: Nature and the Care of the Soul (2019)

Clair Brown, Buddhist Economics: An Enlightened Approach to the Dismal Science (2018)

Shravasti Dhammika, Nature and the Environment in Early Buddhism (2018)

Karine Gagné, Caring for Glaciers: Land, Animals, and Humanity in the Himalayas (2018)

Willis J. Jenkins, Mary Evelyn Tucker, and John Grim (eds.), Routledge Handbook of Religion and Ecology (2018)

Vajragupta, Wild Awake: Alone, Offline and Aware in Nature (2018)

Whitney Bauman, Richard Bohannon, and Kevin O'Brien (eds.), Grounding Religion: A Field Guide to the Study of Religion and Ecology, 2nd ed. (2017)

Caroline Brazier, Ecotherapy in Practice: A Buddhist Model (2017)

J. Baird Callicott & James McRae (eds.), Japanese Environmental Philosophy (2017)

David E. Cooper & Simon P. James, Buddhism, Virtue and Environment (2017)

Simon P. James, Zen Buddhism and Environmental Ethics (2017)

Bodhipaksa, Vegetarianism: A Buddhist View (2016)

Padmasiri De Silva, Environmental Philosophy and Ethics in Buddhism (2016)

Todd LeVasseur et al (eds.), Religion and Sustainable Agriculture: World Spiritual Traditions and Food Ethics (2016)

Daniel P. Scheid, The Cosmic Common Good: Religious Grounds for Ecological Ethics (2016)

J. Baird Callicott & James McRae (eds.), Environmental Philosophy in Asian Traditions of Thought (2015)

Ugo Dessì, Japanese Religions and Globalization (2015)

Vaddhaka Linn, The Buddha on Wall Street: What's Wrong with Capitalism and What We Can Do About It (2015)

Joan Marques, Business and Buddhism (2015)

James Stewart, Vegetarianism and Animal Ethics in Contemporary Buddhism (2015)

Whitney A. Bauman, Religion and Ecology: Developing a Planetary Ethic (2014)

James Mark Shields (ed.), Buddhist Responses to Globalization (2014)

Susan M. Darlington, The Ordination of a Tree: The Thai Buddhist Environmental Movement (2013)

Tariq Jazeel, Sacred Modernity: Nature, Environment and the Postcolonial Geographies of Sri Lankan Nationhood (2013)

Bhikkhu Nyanasobhano, Landscapes of Wonder: Discovering Buddhist Dhamma in the World Around Us (2013)

Leslie E. Sponsel, Spiritual Ecology: A Quiet Revolution (2012)

Pragati Sahni, Environmental Ethics in Buddhism: A Virtues Approach (2011)

David M. Engel & Jaruwan S. Engel, Tort, Custom, and Karma: Globalization and Legal Consciousness in Thailand (2010)

Roger S. Gottlieb (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Ecology (2010)

Lin Jensen, Deep Down Things: The Earth in Celebration and Dismay (2010)

Richard Payne, How Much is Enough? Buddhism, Consumerism, and the Human Environment (2010)

Thomas Berry, The Sacred Universe: Earth, Spirituality, and Religion, ed. Mary Evelyn Tucker (2009)

Peter D. Hershock, Buddhism in the Public Sphere: Reorienting Global Interdependence (2009)

John Stanley et al (eds.), A Buddhist Response to the Climate Emergency (2009)

Ananda W. P. Guruge, Buddhism, Economics and Science: Further Studies in Socially Engaged Humanistic Buddhism (2008)

Stephanie Kaza, Mindfully Green: A Personal and Spiritual Guide to Whole Earth Thinking (2008)

Bhikkhu Basnagoda Rahula, The Buddha's Teachings on Prosperity: At Home, At Work, in the World (2008)

Lloyd Field, Business and the Buddha: Doing Well by Doing Good (2007)

Bhikkhu Nyanasobhano, Available Truth: Excursions into Buddhist Wisdom and the Natural World (2007)

Lisa Kemmerer, In Search of Consistency: Ethics and Animals (2006)

Kirkpatrick Sale, After Eden: The Evolution of Human Domination (2006)

Paul Waldau & Kimberley Christine Patton (eds.), A Communion of Subjects: Animals in Religion, Science, and Ethics (2006)

Sulak Sivaraksa, Conflict, Culture, Change: Engaged Buddhism in a Globalizing World (2005)

Stuart Chandler, Establishing a Pure Land on Earth: The Foguang Buddhist Perspective on Modernization and Globalization (2004)

Linda Learman, Buddhist Missionaries in the Era of Globalization (2004)

Roger S. Gottlieb, This Sacred Earth: Religion, Nature, Environment, 2nd ed. (2003)

Joanna Macy, World As Lover, World As Self: Courage for Global Justice and Ecological Renewal (2003)

Paul Waldau, The Specter of Speciesism: Buddhist and Christian Views of Animals (2001)

Stephanie Kaza & Kenneth Kraft (eds.), Dharma Rain: Sources of Buddhist Environmentalism (2000)

Tony Page, Buddhism and Animals: A Buddhist Vision of Humanity's Rightful Relationship with the Animal Kingdom (1999)

Laurel Kearns & Catherine Keller (eds.), Ecospirit: Religions and Philosophies for the Earth (2007)

Mary E. Tucker & Duncan R. Williams (eds.), Buddhism and Ecology: The Interconnection of Dharma and Deeds (1997)

Christopher Key Chapple, Nonviolence to Animals, Earth, and Self in Asian Traditions (1993)

Martine Batchelor & Kerry Brown (eds.), Buddhism and Ecology (1992)

Allan Hunt Badiner (ed.), Dharma Gaia: A Harvest of Essays in Buddhism and Ecology (1990)

Arne Naess, Ecology, Community, and Lifestyle: Outline of an Ecosophy, trans. David Rothenberg (1989)

In this study of the place of vegetarianism within Tibetan religiosity, Geoffrey Barstow explores the tension between Buddhist ethics and Tibetan cultural norms to offer a novel perspective on the spiritual and social dimensions of meat eating. Barstow offers a detailed analysis of the debates over meat eating and vegetarianism, from the first references to such a diet in the tenth century through the Chinese invasion in the 1950s. He discusses elements of Tibetan Buddhist thought, but also looks beyond religious attitudes to examine the cultural, economic, and environmental factors that oppose the Buddhist critique of meat, including Tibetan concepts of medicine and health, food scarcity, the display of wealth, and idealized male gender roles. Barstow argues that the issue of meat eating was influenced by a complex interplay of factors, with religious perspectives largely supporting vegetarianism while practical concerns and secular ideals pulled in the other direction.

Clair Brown, professor of economics at UC Berkeley and a practicing Buddhist, has developed a holistic model, one based on the notion that quality of life should be measured by more than national income. Brown advocates an approach to organizing the economy that embraces rather than skirts questions of values, sustainability, and equity, and incorporates the Buddhist emphasis on interdependence, shared prosperity, and happiness into her vision for a sustainable and compassionate world. Buddhist economics leads us to think mindfully as we go about our daily activities, and offers a way to appreciate how our actions affect the well-being of those around us. By replacing the endless cycle of desire with more positive collective activities, we can make our lives more meaningful as well as happier. This book represents an enlightened approach to our modern world infused with ancient wisdom, with benefits both personal and global, for generations to come.

This book reflects the growing interest and research in this field. Drawing on a diversity of experience from the counselling and psychotherapy professions, but also from practitioners in community work, mental health and education, this book explores the exciting and innovative possibilities involved in practising outdoors. Brazier brings to bear her experience and knowledge as a psychotherapist, group worker and trainer over several decades to think about therapeutic work outdoors in all its forms. The book presents a model of ecotherapy based on principles drawn from Buddhist psychology and Western psychotherapy which focuses particularly on the relationship between person and environment at three levels, moving from the personal level of individual history to cultural influences, then finally to global circumstances, all of which condition mind-states and psychological well-being. This work will provide refreshing and valuable reading for psychotherapists and counsellors in the field, those interested in Buddhism, and other mental health and health professionals working outdoors.

This work explores alternative ways of leading in the aftermath of the Great Recession and the many stories of fraud and greed that emerged. The book explores shifts in business perspectives as more value is placed on soft skills like emotional intelligence and listening, and introduces the reader to the principles in Buddhist philosophy that can be applied in the workplace. Marques explores the value of applying the positive psychology of Buddhism to work settings. She outlines the ways in which it offers highly effective solutions to addressing important management and organizational behavior related issues, but also flags up critical areas for caution. For example, Buddhism is non-confrontational, and promotes detachment. How can business leaders negotiate these principles in light of the demands of modern day pressures? The book includes end of chapter questions to promote reflection and critical thinking, and examples of Buddhist leaders in action. It will prove a captivating read for students of organizational behavior, management, leadership, diversity and ethics.

Andy Rotman, Hungry Ghosts (2021)

Eric Huntington, Creating the Universe: Depictions of the Cosmos in Himalayan Buddhism (2019)

Rebecca Redwood French, The Golden Yoke: The Legal Cosmology of Buddhist Tibet (2002)

Akira Sadakata, Buddhist Cosmology: Philosophy and Origins (1997)

Jamgon K.L. Taye, Myriad Worlds: Buddhist Cosmology in Abhidharma, Kalacakra, and Dzog-chen (1995)

Randy Kloetzli, Buddhist Cosmology: From Single World System to Pure Land: Science and Theology in the Images of Motion and Light (1983)

Frank E. Reynolds & Mani B. Reynolds (trans.), Three Worlds According to King Ruang: A Thai Buddhist Cosmology (1982)

Peter Singer & Shih Chao-Hwei, The Buddhist and the Ethicist: Conversations on Effective Altruism, Engaged Buddhism, and How to Build a Better World (2023)

Jay L. Garfield, Buddhist Ethics: A Philosophical Exploration (2021)

Daniel Cozort & James Mark Shields (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Buddhist Ethics (2018)

Jake H. Davis (ed.), A Mirror Is for Reflection: Understanding Buddhist Ethics (2017)

The Cowherds, Moonpaths: Ethics and Emptiness (2015)

Dharmachari Subhuti, Mind in Harmony: A Guide to the Psychology of Buddhist Ethics (2015)

Charles Goodman, Consequences of Compassion: An Interpretation and Defense of Buddhist Ethics (2014)

Christopher W. Gowans, Buddhist Moral Philosophy: An Introduction (2014)

Alexus McLeod, Understanding Asian Philosophy: Ethics in the Analects, Zhuangzi, Dhammapada, and the Bhagavad Gita (2014)

Subhadramati, Not About Being Good: A Practical Guide to Buddhist Ethics (2013)

Dale Wright, The Six Perfections: Buddhism and the Cultivation of Character (2011)

Charles S. Prebish (ed.), Destroying Mara Forever: Buddhist Ethics Essays in Honor of Damien Keown (2010)

Susanne Mrozik, Virtuous Bodies: The Physical Dimensions of Morality in Buddhist Ethics (2007)

Hari Shankar Prasad, The Centrality of Ethics in Buddhism: Exploratory Essays (2007)

Pamela Bloom, The Healing Power of Compassion: The Essence of Buddhist Acts (2006)

Karma Lekshe Tsomo, Into the Jaws of Yama, Lord of Death: Buddhism, Bioethics, and Death (2006)

Damien Keown, Buddhist Ethics: A Very Short Introduction (2005)

Sangharakshita, Know Your Mind: The Psychological Dimension of Ethics in Buddhism (2004)

Jeffrey Hopkins, Cultivating Compassion: A Buddhist Perspective (2002)

Gananath Obeyesekere, Imagining Karma: Ethical Transformation in Amerindian, Buddhist, and Greek Rebirth (2002)

Peter Harvey, An Introduction to Buddhist Ethics: Foundations, Values, and Issues (2000)

Damien Keown (ed.), Contemporary Buddhist Ethics (2000)

Damien Keown (ed.), Buddhism and Abortion (1998)

Hammalawa Saddhatissa, Buddhist Ethics (1997)

Peggy Morgan & Clive Lawton (eds.), Ethical Issues in Six Religious Traditions (1996)

Damien Keown, Buddhism and Bioethics (1995)

Phillip Olson, The Discipline of Freedom: A Kantian View of the Role of Moral Precepts in Zen Practice (1993)

Damien Keown, The Nature of Buddhist Ethics (1992)

William R. LaFleur, Liquid Life: Abortion and Buddhism in Japan (1992)

Charles W. Fu & Sandra A. Wawrytko (eds.), Buddhist Ethics and Modern Society (1991)

Bruce Reichenbach, The Law of Karma: A Philosophical Study (1990)

Russell F. Sizemore & Donald K. Swearer (eds.), Ethics, Wealth and Salvation: A Study in Buddhist Social Ethics (1989)

Toshiichi Endo, Dana: The Development of Its Concept and Practice (1987)

G.S. Misra, The Development of Buddhist Ethics (1984)

Robert Aitken, The Mind of Clover: Essays in Zen Buddhist Ethics (1982)

Roderick Hindery, Comparative Ethics in Hindu and Buddhist Traditions (1978)

Michael Pye, Skilful Means: A Concept in Mahayana Buddhism (1978)

Unto Tahtinen, Ahimsa: Non-Violence in Indian Tradition (1976)

Shundo Tachibana, The Ethics of Buddhism (1975)

Winston King, In the Hope of Nibbana: An Essay on Theravada Buddhist Ethics (1964)

All the varied forms of Buddhism embody an ethical core that is remarkably consistent. Articulated by the historical Buddha in his first sermon, this moral core is founded on the concept of karma--that intentions and actions have future consequences for an individual--and is summarized as Right Speech, Right Action, and Right Livelihood, three of the elements of the Eightfold Path. Although they were later elaborated and interpreted in a multitude of ways, none of these core principles were ever abandoned. This work provides a comprehensive overview of the field of Buddhist ethics in the twenty-first century. It discusses the foundations of Buddhist ethics, focusing on karma and the precepts for abstinence from harming others, stealing, and intoxication. It considers ethics in the different Buddhist traditions and the similarities they share, and compares Buddhist ethics to Western ethics and the psychology of moral judgments. The volume also investigates Buddhism and society, analysing economics, environmental ethics, and Just War ethics. The final section focuses on contemporary issues surrounding Buddhist ethics, including gender, sexuality, animal rights, and euthanasia.

Here is a lucid, accessible, and inspiring guide to the six perfections--Buddhist teachings about six dimensions of human character that require "perfecting": generosity, morality, tolerance, energy, meditation, and wisdom. Drawing on the Diamond Sutra, the Large Sutra on Perfect Wisdom, and other essential Mahayana texts, Dale Wright shows how these teachings were understood and practiced in classical Mahayana Buddhism and how they can be adapted to contemporary life in a global society. What would the perfection of generosity look like today, for example? What would it mean to give with neither ulterior motives nor naiveté? Devoting a separate chapter to each of the six perfections, Wright combines sophisticated analysis with real-life applications. Buddhists have always stressed self-cultivation and the freedom of human beings to shape their own lives. For those interested in ideals of human character and practices of self-cultivation, this work offers invaluable guidance.

This book explores the Buddhist view of death and its implications for contemporary bioethics. Writing primarily from within the Tibetan tradition, Tsomo discusses Buddhist notions of human consciousness and personal identity and how these figure in the Buddhist view of death. Beliefs about death and enlightenment and states between life and death are also discussed. Tsomo goes on to examine such hot-button topics as cloning, abortion, assisted suicide, euthanasia, organ donation, genetic engineering, and stem-cell research within a Buddhist context, introducing new ways of thinking about these highly controversial issues.

With this work, Obeyesekere embarks on the very first comparison of rebirth concepts across a wide range of cultures. Exploring in rich detail the beliefs of small-scale societies of West Africa, Melanesia, traditional Siberia, Canada, and the northwest coast of North America, Obeyesekere compares their ideas with those of the ancient and modern Indic civilizations and with the Greek rebirth theories of Pythagoras, Empedocles, Pindar, and Plato. His groundbreaking and authoritative discussion decenters the popular notion that India was the origin and locus of ideas of rebirth. As he compares responses to the most fundamental questions of human existence, the author challenges readers to reexamine accepted ideas about death, cosmology, morality, and eschatology. Obeyesekere's comprehensive inquiry shows that diverse societies have come through independent invention or borrowing to believe in reincarnation as an integral part of their larger cosmological systems. The author brings together into a coherent methodological framework the thought of such diverse thinkers as Weber, Wittgenstein, and Nietzsche. In a contemporary intellectual context that celebrates difference and cultural relativism, this book makes a case for disciplined comparison, a humane view of human nature, and a theoretical understanding of "family resemblances" and differences across great cultural divides.

Gender, Sexuality, Reproduction, and Children

Toni Pressley-Sanon, Lifting As They Climb: Black Women Buddhists and Collective Liberation (2024)

Megan Bryson & Kevin Buckelew, eds., Buddhist Masculinities (2023)

Vanessa R. Sasson, The Gathering: A Story of the First Buddhist Women (2023)

Bhikkhu Analayo, Daughters of the Buddha: Teachings by Ancient Indian Women (2022)

Jacoby Ballard, A Queer Dharma: Yoga and Meditations for Liberation (2022)

Ute Hüsken, Laughter, Creativity, and Perseverance: Female Agency in Buddhism and Hinduism (2022)

Elisabeth A. Benard, The Sakya Jetsunmas: The Hidden World of Tibetan Female Lamas (2022)

Darcy Flynn (ed.), Buddhism and Women: In the Middle Way (2022)

Kodo Nishimura, This Monk Wears Heels: Be Who You Are (2022)

Rachael Stevens, Red Tara: The Female Buddha of Power and Magnetism (2022)

Stephanie Guyer-Stevens & Françoise Pommaret, Divine Messengers: The Untold Story of Bhutan's Female Shamans (2021)

Alice Collett, I Hear Her Words: An Introduction to Women in Buddhism (2021)

Wendy Garling, The Woman Who Raised the Buddha: The Extraordinary Life of Mahaprajapati (2021)

Carola Roloff, The Buddhist Nun´s Ordination in the Tibetan Canon: Possibilities of the Revival of the Mulasarvastivada Bhiksuni Lineage (2021)

Vanessa R. Sasson, Yasodhara and the Buddha (2021)

Mayumi Oda, Sarasvati's Gift: The Autobiography of Mayumi Oda - Artist, Activist, and Modern Buddhist Revolutionary (2020)

Karma Lekshe Tsomo, Women in Buddhist Traditions (2020)

Matty Weingast, The First Free Women: Poems of the Early Buddhist Nuns (2020)

Jan Willis, Dharma Matters: Women, Race, and Tantra (2020)

Sokthan Yeng, Buddhist Feminism: Transforming Anger Against Patriarchy (2020)

Anne Cushman, The Mama Sutra: A Story of Love, Loss, and the Pain of Motherhood (2019)

Martin Seeger, Gender and the Path to Awakening: Hidden Histories of Nuns in Modern Thai Buddhism (2018)

Karma Lekshe Tsomo (ed.), Buddhist Feminisms and Femininities (2019)

Gendun Chopel, The Passion Book: A Tibetan Guide to Love & Sex, trans. Donald S. Lopez, Jr. (2018)

Pamela Ayo Yetunde, Object Relations, Buddhism, and Relationality in Womanist Practical Theology (2018)

Amy Paris Langenberg, Birth in Buddhism: The Suffering Fetus and Female Freedom (2017)

Karen Muldoon-Hules, Brides of the Buddha: Nuns' Stories from the Avadanasataka (2017)

Bhikkhu Analayo, The Foundation History of the Nuns' Order (2016)

Anna Andreeva & Dominic Steavu (eds.), Transforming the Void: Embryological Discourse and Reproductive Imagery in East Asian Religions (2016)

Wendy Garling, Stars at Dawn: Forgotten Stories of Women in the Buddha's Life (2016)

Kamalamani, Other Than Mother: Choosing Childlessness with Life in Mind (2016)

Ashley Thompson, Engendering the Buddhist State: Territory, Sovereignty and Sexual Difference in the Inventions of Angkor (2016)

Pascale Engelmajer, Women in Pali Buddhism: Walking the Spiritual Paths in Mutual Dependence (2015)

Rosemarie Freeney Harding & Rachel Elizabeth Harding, Remnants: A Memoir of Spirit, Activism, and Mothering (2015)

Jennifer McWeeny & Ashby Butnor (eds.), Asian and Feminist Philosophies in Dialogue: Liberating Traditions (2014)

Andrea Miller (ed.), Buddha's Daughters: Teachings from Women Who Are Shaping Buddhism in the West (2014)

Karma Lekshe Tsomo (ed.), Eminent Buddhist Women (2014)

Kathryn R. Blackstone, Women in the Footsteps of the Buddha: Struggle for Liberation in the Therigatha (2013)

Florence Caplow & Susan Moon (eds.), The Hidden Lamp: Stories from Twenty-Five Centuries of Awakened Women (2013)

Nirmala S. Salgado, Buddhist Nuns and Gendered Practice: In Search of the Female Renunciant (2013)

Bardwell L. Smith, Narratives of Sorrow and Dignity: Japanese Women, Pregnancy Loss, and Modern Rituals of Grieving (2013)

Reiko Ohnuma, Ties That Bind: Maternal Imagery and Discourse in Indian Buddhism (2012)

Vanessa R. Sasson (ed.), Little Buddhas: Children and Childhoods in Buddhist Texts and Traditions (2012)

Paula Arai, Bringing Zen Home: The Healing Heart of Japanese Women's Rituals (2011)

Hsiao-Lan Hu, This-Worldly Nibbana: A Buddhist-Feminist Social Ethic for Peacemaking in the Global Community (2011)

Lori Rachelle Meeks, Hokkeji and the Reemergence of Female Monastic Orders in Premodern Japan (2010)

Thea Mohr & Jampa Tsedroen (eds.), Dignity and Discipline: Reviewing Full Ordination for Buddhist Nuns (2010)

Mohan Wijayaratna, Buddhist Nuns: The Birth and Development of a Women's Monastic Order (2010)

Christina Feldman, Woman Awake: Women Practicing Buddhism (2009)

Rita M. Gross, A Garland of Feminist Reflections: Forty Years of Religious Exploration (2009)

Grace Schireson, Zen Women: Beyond Tea Ladies, Iron Maidens, and Macho Masters (2009)

Andrea Whittaker, Abortion, Sin and the State in Thailand (2009)

Frances Mary Garrett, Religion, Medicine and the Human Embryo in Tibet (2008)

Sara Burns, A Path for Parents: What Buddhism Can Offer (2007)

Peter N. Gregory & Susanne Mrozik (eds.), Women Practicing Buddhism: American Experiences (2007)

Maura O'Halloran, Pure Heart, Enlightened Mind: The Life and Letters of an Irish Zen Saint (2007)

Sallie Tisdale, Women of the Way: Discovering 2,500 Years of Buddhist Wisdom (2007)

Martine Batchelor & Son'gyong Sunim, Women in Korean Zen: Lives and Practices (2006)

Sandy Boucher, Dancing in the Dharma: The Life and Teachings of Ruth Denison (2006)

Wei-Yi Cheng, Buddhist Nuns in Taiwan and Sri Lanka: A Critique of the Feminist Perspective (2006)

Alexandra David-Néel, My Journey to Lhasa: The Classic Story of the Only Western Woman Who Succeeded in Entering the Forbidden City (2005)

Kim Gutschow, Being a Buddhist Nun: The Struggle for Enlightenment in the Himalayas (2004)

Karma Lekshe Tsomo, Buddhist Women and Social Justice: Ideals, Challenges, and Achievements (2004)

Bernard Faure, The Power of Denial: Buddhism, Purity and Gender (2003)

Beata Grant, Daughters of Emptiness: Poems of Chinese Buddhist Nuns (2003)

Hugh B. Urban, Tantra: Sex, Secrecy, Politics, and Power in the Study of Religion (2003)

Martine Batchelor, Women on the Buddhist Path (2002)

Susan Murcott, First Buddhist Women: Poems and Stories of Awakening (2002)

Sid Brown, The Journey of One Buddhist Nun: Even Against the Wind (2001)

Rita M. Gross & Rosemary Radford Ruether, Religious Feminism and the Future of the Planet: A Christian-Buddhist Conversation (2001)

Ranjini Obeyesekere (trans.), Portraits of Buddhist Women: Stories from the Saddharmaratnaavaliya (2001)

Tsültrim Allione, Women of Wisdom (2000)

Sandy Boucher, Discovering Kwan Yin, Buddhist Goddess of Compassion: A Path Towards Clarity and Peace (2000)

Mandakranta Bose (ed.), Faces of the Feminine in Ancient, Medieval, and Modern India (2000)

Karma Lekshe Tsomo, Innovative Buddhist Women: Swimming Against the Stream (2000)

Karma Lekshe Tsomo, Buddhist Women Across Cultures: Realizations (1999)

Sandy Boucher, Opening the Lotus: A Woman's Guide to Buddhism (1998)

Alan Cole, Mothers and Sons in Chinese Buddhism (1998)

Bernard Faure, The Red Thread: Buddhist Approaches to Sexuality (1998)

Chamindaji gamage, buddhism and sensuality: as recorded in the theravada canon (1998).

Rita M. Gross, Soaring and Settling: Buddhist Perspectives on Contemporary Social and Religious Issues (1998)

Lenore Friedman & Susan Moon (eds.), Being Bodies: Buddhist Women on the Paradox of Embodiment (1997)

Helen Hardacre, Marketing the Menacing Fetus in Japan (1997)

Karma Lekshe Tsomo, Sisters in Solitude: Two Traditions of Buddhist Monastic Ethics for Women (1997)

Martine Batchelor, Walking on Lotus Flowers: Buddhist Women Living, Loving and Meditating (1996)

Marianne Dresser (ed.), Buddhist Women on the Edge: Contemporary Perspectives from the Western Frontier (1996)

Liz Wilson, Charming Cadavers: Horrific Figurations of the Feminine in Indian Buddhist Hagiographic Literature (1996)

Anne C. Klein, Meeting the Great Bliss Queen: Buddhists, Feminists, and the Art of the Self (1995)

Karma Lekshe Tsomo (ed.), Buddhism Through American Women's Eyes (1995)

L.p.n. perera, sexuality in ancient india: a study based on the pali vinayapitaka (1993).

Rita M. Gross, Buddhism after Patriarchy: A Feminist History, Analysis, and Reconstruction of Buddhism (1992)

Susan Murcott, The First Buddhist Women (1992)

José Ignacio Cabezón (ed.), Buddhism, Sexuality, and Gender (1991)

I. B. Horner, Women under Primitive Buddhism: Laywomen and Almswomen (1990)

John Stevens, Lust for Enlightenment: Buddhism and Sex (1990)

Janice Willis (ed.), Feminine Ground: Essays on Women and Tibet (1989)

Sandy Boucher, Turning the Wheel: American Women Creating the New Buddhism (1988)

Karma Lekshe Tsomo (ed.), Sakyadhita: Daughters of the Buddha (1988)

Recent decades have seen a transnational agitation for better opportunities for Buddhist women. Many of the main players in this movement self-identify as feminists, but other participants in this movement may not know or use the language of feminism. In fact, many ordained Buddhist women say they seek higher ordination so that they might be better Buddhist practitioners, not for the sake of gender equality. Eschewing the backward projection of secular liberal feminist categories, this book describes the basic features of the Buddhist discourse of the female body, held more or less in common across sectarian lines, and still pertinent to ordained Buddhist women today. The textual focus of the study is an early-first-millennium Sanskrit Buddhist work, the "Descent into the Womb Scripture" or Garbhāvakrānti-sūtra. Drawing out the implications of this text, the author offers innovative arguments about the significance of childbirth and fertility in Buddhism, namely that birth is a master metaphor in Indian Buddhism; that Buddhist gender constructions are centrally shaped by Buddhist birth discourse; and that, by undermining the religious importance of female fertility, the Buddhist construction of an inauspicious, chronically impure, and disgusting femininity constituted a portal to a new, liberated, feminine life for Buddhist monastic women.

Based on extensive research in Sri Lanka and interviews with Theravada and Tibetan nuns from around the world, Salgado's groundbreaking study urges a rethinking of female renunciation. How are scholarly accounts complicit in reinscribing imperialist stories about the subjectivity of Buddhist women? How do key Buddhist "concepts" such as dukkha, samsara, and sila ground female renunciant practice? Salgado's provocative analysis questions the secular notion of the higher ordination of nuns as a political movement for freedom against patriarchal norms. Arguing that the lives of nuns defy translation into a politics of global sisterhood equal before law, she calls for more-nuanced readings of nuns' everyday renunciant practices.

Consideration of children in the academic field of Religious Studies is taking root, but Buddhist Studies has yet to take notice. This book brings together a wide range of scholarship and expertise to address the question of what role children have played in Buddhist literature, in particular historical contexts, and what role they continue to play in specific Buddhist contexts today. The volume is divided into two parts, one addressing the representation of children in Buddhist texts, the other children and childhoods in Buddhist cultures around the world. The ground-breaking contributions in this volume challenge the perception of irreconcilable differences between Buddhist idealism and family ties. This work will be an indispensable resource for students and scholars of Buddhism and Childhood Studies, and a catalyst for further research on the topic.

Rita M. Gross has long been acknowledged as a founder in the field of feminist theology. One of the earliest scholars in religious studies to discover how feminism affects that discipline, she is recognized as preeminent in Buddhist feminist theology. The essays in this book represent the major aspects of her work and provide an overview of her methodology in women's studies in religion and feminism. The introductory article, written specifically for this volume, summarizes the conclusions Gross has reached about gender and feminism after forty years of searching and exploring, and the autobiography, also written for this volume, narrates how those conclusions were reached. These articles reveal the range of scholarship and reflection found in Gross's work and demonstrate how feminist scholars in the 1970s shifted the paradigm away from an androcentric model of humanity and forever changed the way we study religion.

Enlightenment & Enlightened Beings

Dale S. Wright, What Is Buddhist Enlightenment? (2016)

Soon-il Hwang, Metaphor and Literalism in Buddhism: The Doctrinal History of Nirvana (2012)

Alan Sponberg & Helen Hardacre (eds.), Maitreya: The Future Buddha (2011)

Bhikkhu Analayo, The Genesis of the Bodhisattva Ideal (2010)

Steven Collins, Nirvana: Concept, Imagery, Narrative (2010)

Guang Xing, The Concept of the Buddha: Its Evolution from Early Buddhism to the Trikaya Theory (2010)

Jan Nattier, A Few Good Men: The Bodhisattva Path According to the Inquiry of Ugra (2005)

Sangharakshita, Wisdom Beyond Words: The Buddhist Vision of Ultimate Reality (2004)

Steven Collins, Nirvana and Other Buddhist Felicities: Utopias of the Pali Imaginaire (1998)

Ulrich Pagel, The Bodhisattvapitaka: Its Doctrines, Practices and Their Position in Mahayana Literature (1995)

Cheng Chien, Manifestation of the Tathagata: Buddhahood According to the Avatamsaka Sutra (1993)

Sallie B. King, Buddha Nature (1991)

David Seyfort Ruegg, Buddha-Nature, Mind and the Problem of Gradualism in a Comparative Perspective (1989)

Sung Bae Park, Buddhist Faith and Sudden Enlightenment (1983)

Nathan Katz, Buddhist Images of Human Perfection: The Arahant of the Sutta Pitaka compared with the Bodhisattva and the Mahasiddha (1982)

Leslie Kawamura (ed.), The Bodhisattva Doctrine in Buddhism (1981)

Theodor Stcherbatsky, The Conception of Buddhist Nirvana. With Sanskrit Text of the Madhyamaka-karika, 2nd rev. ed. (1977)

Har Dayal, The Bodhisattva Doctrine in Buddhist Sanskrit Literature (1970)

Rune E. A. Johansson, The Psychology of Nirvana: A Comparative Study (1970)

G.R. Welbon, The Buddhist Nirvana and Its Western Interpreters (1968)

Robert L. Slater, Paradox and Nirvana: A Study of Religious Ultimates with Special Reference to Burmese Buddhism (1951)

Julius Evola, The Doctrine of Awakening: The Attainment of Self-Mastery According to the Earliest Buddhist Texts (1943)

Law, Politics, War, and Violence

Stephanie Balkwill & James A. Benn (eds.), Buddhist Statecraft in East Asia (2022)

Tom Ginsburg & Benjamin Schonthal (eds.), Buddhism and Comparative Constitutional Law (2022)

William J. Long, A Buddhist Approach to International Relations: Radical Interdependence (2021)

George Yancy & Emily McRae (eds.), Buddhism and Whiteness: Critical Reflections (2019)

Michael Jerryson, If You Meet the Buddha on the Road: Essays on Buddhism, Politics, and Violence (2018)

D. Christian Lammerts, Buddhist Law in Burma: A History of Dhammasattha Texts and Jurisprudence (2018)

Padmasiri de Silva, The Psychology of Buddhism in Conflict Studies (2017)

Hiroko Kawanami (ed.), Buddhism and the Political Process (2016)

Matthew J. Moore, Buddhism and Political Theory (2016)

Wayne R. Husted & Damien Keown (eds.), Buddhism and Human Rights (2015)

Rebecca Redwood French & Mark A. Nathan (eds.), Buddhism and Law: An Introduction (2014)

Hiroko Kawanami & Geoffrey Samuel (eds.), Buddhism, International Relief Work, and Civil Society (2013)

Vincent Eltschinger, Caste and Buddhist Philosophy: Continuity of Some Buddhist Arguments against the Realist Interpretation of Social Denominations (2012)

Melvin McLeod (ed.), Mindful Politics: A Buddhist Guide to Making the World a Better Place (2012)

Vladimir Tikhonov & Torkel Brekke (eds.), Buddhism and Violence: Militarism and Buddhism in Modern Asia (2012)

Michael K. Jerryson & Mark Juergensmeyer (eds.), Buddhist Warfare (2010)

Carmen Meinert, Hans-Bernd Zöllner (eds.), Buddhist Approaches to Human Rights: Dissonances and Resonances (2010)

Brian D. Victoria, Zen at War (2006)

Susan Moon, Not Turning Away: The Practice of Engaged Buddhism (2004)

Brian D. Victoria, Zen War Stories (2003)

Tessa J. Bartholomeusz, In Defense of Dharma: Just-War Ideology in Buddhist Sri Lanka (2002)

Andrew Huxley, Religion, Law and Tradition: Comparative Studies in Religious Law (2002)

Daisaku Ikeda, For the Sake of Peace: Seven Paths to Global Harmony: A Buddhist Perspective (2002)

Ian Harris (ed.), Buddhism and Politics in Twentieth Century Asia (2001)

Jan E.M. Houben & Karel R. Van Kooj (eds.), Violence Denied: Violence, Non-Violence and the Rationalization of Violence in South Asian Cultural History (1999)

David R. Loy, The Great Awakening: A Buddhist Social Theory (1997)

Kenneth Kraft (ed.), Inner Peace, World Peace: Essays on Buddhism and Nonviolence (1992)

Glenn D. Paige & Sarah Gilliatt, Buddhism and Non-Violent Global Problem-Solving: Ulan Bator Explorations (1991)

Unto tahtinen, non-violent theories of punishment: indian and western (1983).

Burma and neighboring areas of Southeast Asia comprise the only region of the world to have developed a written corpus of Buddhist law claiming jurisdiction over all members of society. Yet in contrast with the extensive scholarship on Islamic and Hindu law, this tradition of Buddhist law has been largely overlooked. In fact, it is commonplace to read that Buddhism gave rise to no law aside from the vinaya, or monastic law. In this book, Lammerts upends this misperception and provides an intellectual and literary history of the dynamic jurisprudence of the dhammasattha legal genre between the thirteenth and nineteenth centuries. Based on a critical study of hundreds of little-known surviving dhammasattha and related manuscripts, the work demonstrates the centrality of law as a crucial discipline of Buddhist knowledge in precolonial Southeast Asia. Lammerts argues that there were multiple, sometimes contentious, modes of reckoning Buddhist jurisprudence and legal authority in the region and assesses these in the context of local cultural, textual, and ritual practices. Over time, the foundational jurisprudence of the genre underwent considerable reformulation in light of arguments raised by its critics, bibliographers, and historians, resulting in a reorientation from a cosmological to a more positivist conception of Buddhist law and legislation that had far-reaching implications for innovative forms of dhammasattha -related discourse on the eve of British colonialism. Lammerts' book shows how, despite such textual and theoretical transformations, late precolonial Burmese jurists continued to promote and justify the dhammasattha genre, and the role of law generally in Buddhism, as a vital aspect of the ongoing effort to protect and preserve the sāsana of Gotama Buddha.

As the first comprehensive study of Buddhism and law in Asia, this interdisciplinary volume challenges the concept of Buddhism as an apolitical religion without implications for law. This collection draws on the expertise of the foremost scholars in Buddhist studies and in law to trace the legal aspects of the religion from the time of the Buddha to the present. In some cases, Buddhism provided the crucial architecture for legal ideologies and secular law codes, while in other cases it had to contend with a preexisting legal system, to which it added a new layer of complexity. The wide-ranging studies in this book reveal a diversity of relationships between Buddhist monastic codes and secular legal systems in terms of substantive rules, factoring, and ritual practices. This volume will be an essential resource for all students and teachers in Buddhist studies, law and religion, and comparative law.

Though traditionally regarded as a peaceful religion, Buddhism has a dark side. On multiple occasions over the past fifteen centuries, Buddhist leaders have sanctioned violence, and even war. The eight essays in this book focus on a variety of Buddhist traditions, from antiquity to the present, and show that Buddhist organizations have used religious images and rhetoric to support military conquest throughout history. Buddhist soldiers in sixth century China were given the illustrious status of Bodhisattva after killing their adversaries. In seventeenth century Tibet, the Fifth Dalai Lama endorsed a Mongol ruler's killing of his rivals. And in modern-day Thailand, Buddhist soldiers carry out their duties undercover, as fully ordained monks armed with guns. This work demonstrates that the discourse on religion and violence, usually applied to Judaism, Islam, and Christianity, can no longer exclude Buddhist traditions. The book examines Buddhist military action in Tibet, China, Korea, Japan, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, and shows that even the most unlikely and allegedly pacifist religious traditions are susceptible to the violent tendencies of man.

The "golden yoke" of Buddhist Tibet was the last medieval legal system still in existence in the middle of the twentieth century. This book reconstructs that system as a series of layered narratives from the memories of people who participated in the daily operation of law in the houses and courtyards the offices and courts of Tibet prior to 1959. The practice of law in this unique legal world, which lacked most of our familiar sign posts, ranged from the fantastic use of oracles in the search for evidence to the more mundane presentation of cases in court. Buddhism and law, two topics rarely intertwined in Western consciousness, are at the center of this work. The Tibetan legal system was based on Buddhist philosophy and reflected Buddhist thought in legal practice and decision making. For Tibetans, law is a cosmology, a kaleidoscopic patterning of relations which is constantly changing, recycling, and re-forming even as it integrates the universe and the individual into a timeless mandalic whole. This work causes us to rethink American legal culture. It argues that in the United States, legal matters are segregated into a separate space with rigidly defined categories. The legal cosmology of Buddhist Tibet brings into question both this autonomous framework and most of the presumptions we have about the very nature of law from precedent and res judicata to rule formation and closure.

The Literature of Buddhism

Michihiro Ama, The Awakening of Modern Japanese Fiction: Path Literature and the Interpretation of Buddhism (2021)

John Brehm, The Dharma of Poetry: How Poems Can Deepen Your Spiritual Practice and Open You to Joy (2021)

Karen Derris, Storied Companions: Cancer, Trauma, and Discovering Guides for Living in Buddhist Narratives (2021)

Ven. K.L. Dhammajoti, Reading Buddhist Sanskrit Texts: An Elementary Grammatical Guide, 4th ed. (2021)

Natalie Gummer (ed.), The Language of the Sutras: Essays in Honor of Luis Gómez (2021)

Stefan Larsson & Kristoffer af Edholm, Songs on the Road: Wandering Religious Poets in India, Tibet, and Japan (2021)

Eviatar Shulman, Visions of the Buddha: Creative Dimensions of Early Buddhist Scripture (2021)

Chunwen Hao, Dunhuang Manuscripts: An Introduction to Texts from the Silk Road (2020)

Rafal K. Stepien (ed.), Buddhist Literature as Philosophy, Buddhist Philosophy as Literature (2020)

Dominique Julien, Borges, Buddhism, and World Literature: A Morphology of Renunciation Tales (2019)

Naomi Appleton, Shared Characters in Jain, Buddhist and Hindu Narrative: Gods, Kings and Other Heroes (2016)

Hildegard Diemberger et al (eds.), Tibetan Printing: Comparison, Continuities, and Change (2016)

Naomi Appleton, Narrating Karma and Rebirth: Buddhist and Jain Multi-Life Stories (2015)

Jae-Seong Lee, Postmodern Ethics, Emptiness, and Literature (2015)

Lawrence Normand & Alison Winch (eds.), Encountering Buddhism in Twentieth-Century British and American Literature (2015)

Agnieszka Helman-Wazny, The Archaeology of Tibetan Books (2014)

Kurtis R. Schaeffer, The Culture of the Book in Tibet (2014)

Jinah Kim, Receptacle of the Sacred: Illustrated Manuscripts and the Buddhist Book Cult in South Asia (2013)

Richard S. Cohen, The Splendid Vision: Reading a Buddhist Sutra (2012)

Stephen C. Berkwitz et al (eds.), Buddhist Manuscript Cultures: Knowledge, Ritual, and Art (2011)

John Whalen-Bridge & Gary Storhoff (eds.), Writing as Enlightenment: Buddhist American Literature into the Twenty-First Century (2011)

John Whalen-Bridge & Gary Storhoff (eds.), The Emergence of Buddhist American Literature (2009)

Ralph Flores, Buddhist Scriptures as Literature: Sacred Rhetoric and the Uses of Theory (2008)

Richard F. Gombrich & Cristina Scherrer-Schaub (eds.), Buddhist Studies: Papers of the 12th World Sanskrit Conference, Vol. 8 (2008)

Deborah Klimburg-Salter et al (eds.), Text, Image and Song in Transdisciplinary Dialogue (2007)

Jeff Humphries, Reading Emptiness: Buddhism and Literature (1999)

Milton C. Winternitz, History of Indian Literature, Volume II: Buddhist and Jaina Literature (1999)

Kogen Mizuno, Buddhist Sutras: Origin, Development, Transmission (1989)

Donald S. Lopez (ed.), Buddhist Hermeneutics (1988)

Roy C. Amore & Larry D. Shinn (ed. & trans.), Lustful Maidens and Ascetic Kings: Buddhist and Hindu Stories of Life (1981)

Shinsho Hanayama, Bibliography on Buddhism (1961)

Buddhism and Jainism share the concepts of karma, rebirth, and the desirability of escaping from rebirth. The literature of both traditions contains many stories about past, and sometimes future, lives which reveal much about these foundational doctrines. Naomi Appleton carefully explores how multi-life stories served to construct, communicate, and challenge ideas about karma and rebirth within early South Asia, examining portrayals of the different realms of rebirth, the potential paths and goals of human beings, and the biographies of ideal religious figures. Appleton also deftly surveys the ability of karma to bind individuals together over multiple lives, and the nature of the supernormal memory that makes multi-life stories available in the first place. This original study not only sheds light on the individual preoccupations of Buddhist and Jain tradition, but contributes to a more complete history of religious thought in South Asia.

In considering medieval illustrated Buddhist manuscripts as sacred objects of cultic innovation, this book explores how and why the South Asian Buddhist book-cult has survived for almost two millennia to the present. A book "manuscript" should be understood as a form of sacred space: a temple in microcosm, not only imbued with divine presence but also layered with the memories of many generations of users. Kim argues that illustrating a manuscript with Buddhist imagery not only empowered it as a three-dimensional sacred object, but also made it a suitable tool for the spiritual transformation of medieval Indian practitioners. Through a detailed historical analysis, she suggests that while Buddhism’s disappearance in eastern India was a slow and gradual process, the Buddhist book-cult played an important role in sustaining its identity. In addition, by examining the physical traces left by later Nepalese users and the contemporary ritual use of the book in Nepal, Kim shows how human agency was critical in perpetuating and intensifying the potency of a manuscript as a sacred object throughout time.

This work explores how religious and cultural practices in premodern Asia were shaped by literary and artistic traditions as well as by Buddhist material culture. This study of Buddhist texts focuses on the significance of their material forms rather than their doctrinal contents, and examines how and why they were made. Collectively, the book offers cross-cultural and comparative insights into the transmission of Buddhist knowledge and the use of texts and images as ritual objects in the artistic and aesthetic traditions of Buddhist cultures. Drawing on case studies from India, Gandhara, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Mongolia, China and Nepal, the chapters included investigate the range of interests and values associated with producing and using written texts, and the roles manuscripts and images play in the transmission of Buddhist texts and in fostering devotion among Buddhist communities. Contributions are by reputed scholars in Buddhist Studies and represent diverse disciplinary approaches from religious studies, art history, anthropology, and history.

This work connects ancient Buddhist attitudes and ideas with postmodern theory and aesthetics, concluding that the closest thing in Western culture to the Middle Way of Buddhism is not any sort of theory or philosophy, but the practice of literature. The book draws on scholarship and criticism in literary theory, philosophy, and science to speculate about the possible common ground between literary and Buddhist practices, aiming not so much to elucidate the ancient traditions of Buddhism as to seek ways in which literature might be integrated into a truly Western practice of Buddhism that would remain philosophically true to its Eastern roots.

Language, Logic, and Semiotics

Eun-Su Cho, Language and Meaning: Buddhist Interpretations of the "Buddha's Word" in Indian and East Asian Perspectives (2020)

Manel Herat (ed.), Buddhism and Linguistics: Theory and Philosophy (2017)

Sangharakshita, Metaphors, Magic, and Mystery: An Anthology of Writings and Teachings on Words and Their Relation to the Truth (2015)

Koji Tanaka et al (eds.), The Moon Points Back (2015)

Youxuan Wang, Buddhism and Deconstruction: Towards a Comparative Semiotics (2015)

Jayant Burde, Buddhist Logic and Quantum Dilemma (2012)

The Cowherds, Moonshadows: Conventional Truth in Buddhist Philosophy (2010)

Jay L. Garfield et al (eds.), Pointing at the Moon: Buddhism, Logic, Analytic Philosophy (2009)

Jin Y. Park (ed.), Buddhisms and Deconstructions (2006)

Alex Wayman, A Millennium of Buddhist Logic (1999)

Asanga tilakaratne, nirvana and ineffability: a study of the buddhist theory of reality and language (1993).

R.S.Y. Chi, Buddhist Formal Logic: A Study of Dignaga's Hetucakra and K'uei-chi's Great Commentary on the Nyayapravesa (1990)

Joan Stambaugh, The Real Is Not the Rational (1986)

G.M. Sprung (ed.), The Problem of Two Truths in Buddhism and Vedanta (1973)

T. Stcherbatsky, Buddhist Logic, 2 vols. (1962)

Meditation, Mindfulness, and Insight

David L. McMahan, Rethinking Meditation: Buddhist Meditative Practices in Ancient and Modern Worlds (2023)

Farah Godrej, Freedom Inside? Yoga and Meditation in the Carceral State (2022)

Bhikkhu Analayo, Developments in Buddhist Meditation Traditions: The Interplay Between Theory and Practice (2022)

L.S. Cousins, Meditations of the Pali Tradition: Illuminating Buddhist Doctrine, History, and Practice, ed. Sarah Shaw (2022)

Paul Dennison, Jhana Consciousness: Buddhist Meditation in the Age of Neuroscience (2022)

Geshe YongDong Losar, Calm Breath, Calm Mind: A Guide to the Healing Power of Breath, ed. Bernadette Wyton (2022)

B. Alan Wallace, The Art of Transforming the Mind: A Meditator’s Guide to the Tibetan Practice of Lojong (2022)

Karen O'Brien-Kop, Rethinking 'Classical Yoga' and Buddhism: Meditation, Metaphors and Materiality (2021)

Vajradevi, Uncontrived Mindfulness: Ending Suffering Through Attention, Curiosity, and Wisdom (2021)

B. Alan Wallace, Minding Closely: The Four Applications of Mindfulness (2021)

Bhikkhu Analayo, Introducing Mindfulness: The Buddhist Background and Practical Exercises (2020)

Bhikkhu Analayo, Mindfulness in Early Buddhism: Characteristics and Functions (2020)

Will Johnson, The Posture of Meditation: A Practical Manual for Meditators of All Traditions (2020)

Sarah Shaw, Mindfulness: Where It Comes From and What It Means (2020)

Bhikkhu Analayo, Mindfulness of Breathing: A Practice Guide and Translations (2019)

Tullio Giraldi, Psychotherapy, Mindfulness and Buddhist Meditation (2019)

Michal Pagis, Inward: Vipassana Meditation and the Embodiment of the Self (2019)

Paramananda, The Myth of Meditation: Restoring Imaginal Ground through Embodied Buddhist Practice (2019)

Ronald Purser, McMindfulness: How Mindfulness Became the New Capitalist Spirituality (2019)

Bhikkhu Analayo, Satipatthana Meditation: A Practice Guide (2018)

John Blofeld, Gateway to Wisdom: Taoist and Buddhist Contemplative and Healing Yogas (2018)

Ratnaguna Hennessey, The Art of Reflection: A Guide to Thinking, Contemplation and Insight on the Buddhist Path (2018)

Hyun-soo Jeon, Samatha, Jhana, and Vipassana. Practice at the Pa-Auk Monastery: A Meditator's Experience, trans. HaNul Jun (2018)

Jack Kornfield & Joseph Goldstein, The Path of Insight Meditation (2018)

Jaime Kucinskas, The Mindful Elite: Mobilizing from the Inside Out (2018)

Dharmachari Shantigarbha, I'll Meet You There: A Practical Guide to Empathy, Mindfulness and Communication (2018)

Lenart Skof & Petri Berndtson (eds.), Atmospheres of Breathing (2018)

Henry Vyner, The Healthy Mind: Mindfulness, True Self, and the Stream of Consciousness (2018)

Bhikkhu Analayo, Mindfully Facing Disease and Death: Compassionate Advice from Early Buddhist Texts (2017)

Keren Arbel, Early Buddhist Meditation: The Four Jhanas as the Actualization of Insight (2017)

Guy Armstrong, Emptiness: A Practical Introduction for Meditators (2017)

Peter Doran, A Political Economy of Attention, Mindfulness and Consumption: Reclaiming the Mindful Commons (2017)

Halvor Eifring (ed.), Meditation and Culture: The Interplay of Practice and Context (2017)

Paramabandhu Groves & Jed Shamel, Mindful Emotion: A Short Course in Kindness (2017)

Bhikkhu Phra Khantipalo, Calm and Insight: A Buddhist Manual for Meditators (2017)

Erik Braun, The Birth of Insight: Meditation, Modern Buddhism, and the Burmese Monk Ledi Sayadaw (2016)

Bob Chisholm & Jeff Harrison (eds.), The Wisdom of Not-Knowing: Essays on Psychotherapy, Buddhism, and Life Experience (2016)

Mahasi Sayadaw, Manual of Insight, trans. Steve Armstrong (2016)

Sayadaw U. Tejaniya, When Awareness Becomes Natural: A Guide to Cultivating Mindfulness in Everyday Life (2016)

Bhikkhu Analayo, Compassion and Emptiness in Early Buddhist Meditation (2015)

Richard P. Boyle, Realizing Awakened Consciousness: Interviews with Buddhist Teachers and a New Perspective on the Mind (2015)

Leigh Brasington, Right Concentration: A Practical Guide to the Jhanas (2015)

Bhikkhu Analayo, Perspectives on Satipatthana (2014)

Manu Bazzano (ed.), After Mindfulness: New Perspectives on Psychology and Meditation (2014)

Amanda Ie et al (eds.), The Wiley Blackwell Handbook of Mindfulness, 2 vols. (2014)

Sarah Shaw, The Spirit of Buddhist Meditation (2014)

Lama Dudjom Dorjee, Stillness, Insight, and Emptiness: Buddhist Meditation from the Ground Up (2013)

J. Mark G. Williams & Jon Kabat-Zinn (eds.), Mindfulness: Diverse Perspectives on Its Meaning, Origins and Applications (2013)

Jinananda, Meditating: A Buddhist View (2012)

Kamalashila, Buddhist Meditation: Tranquillity, Imagination and Insight (2012)

Joe Loizzo, Sustainable Happiness: The Mind Science of Well-Being, Altruism, and Inspiration (2012)

Sangharakshita, The Purpose and Practice of Buddhist Meditation: A Sourcebook of Teachings (2012)

Shaila Catherine, Wisdom Wide and Deep: A Practical Handbook for Mastering Jhana and Vipassana (2011)

Judith Simmer-Brown & Fran Grace (eds.), Meditation and the Classroom: Contemplative Pedagogy for Religious Studies (2011)

Cynthia Thatcher, Just Seeing: Insight Meditation and Sense-Perception (2011)

Bodhipaksa, Wildmind: A Step-by-Step Guide to Meditation (2010)

Arinna Weisman & Jean Smith, The Beginner's Guide to Insight Meditation (2010)

Thomas Cleary, Minding Mind: A Course in Basic Meditation (2009)

Bhante Henepola Gunaratana, Beyond Mindfulness in Plain English: An Introductory Guide to the Jhanas, ed. John Peddicord (2009)

Maitreyabandhu, Life with Full Attention: A Practical Course in Mindfulness (2009)

Stephen Snyder & Tina Rasmussen, Practicing the Jhanas: Traditional Concentration Meditation As Presented by the Ven. Pa Auk Sayadaw (2009)

Alexander Wynne, The Origin of Buddhist Meditation (2009)

Richard Shankman, The Experience of Samadhi: An In-Depth Exploration of Buddhist Meditation (2008)

Sarah Shaw, Introduction to Buddhist Meditation (2008)

Ajahn Brahmavamso, Ajahn Nyanadhammo, & Dharma Dorje, Walking Meditation: Three Expositions (2007)

Gregory Kramer, Insight Dialogue: The Interpersonal Path to Freedom (2007)

Toni Packer, The Silent Question: Meditating in the Stillness of Not-Knowing (2007)

Paramananda, The Body: The Art of Meditation (2007)

Ajahn Brahm, Mindfulness, Bliss, and Beyond: A Meditator's Handbook (2006)

Paramananda, Change Your Mind: A Practical Guide to Buddhist Meditation (2006)

Sarah Shaw, Buddhist Meditation: An Anthology of Texts from the Pali Canon (2006)

Vessantara, The Heart: The Art of Meditation (2006)

Kathleen McDonald, How to Meditate: A Practical Guide (2005)

Vessantara, The Breath: The Art of Meditation (2005)

Bhikkhu Analayo, Satipatthana: The Direct Path to Realization (2004)

Frits Koster, Liberating Insight: Introduction to Buddhist Psychology and Insight Meditation (2004)

Nagabodhi, Metta: The Practice of Loving Kindness (2004)

Larry Rosenberg, Breath by Breath: The Liberating Practice of Insight Meditation (2004)

Sangharakshita, Living with Awareness: A Guide to the Satipatthana Sutta (2004)

Daniel Odier, Meditation Techniques of the Buddhist and Taoist Masters (2003)

John Daishin Buksbazen, Zen Meditation in Plain English (2002)

Bhante Gunaratana, Eight Mindful Steps to Happiness: Walking the Path of the Buddha (2001)

Lewis Richmond, Work as a Spiritual Practice: A Practical Buddhist Approach to Inner Growth and Satisfaction on the Job (2000)

Mitchell Ginsberg, The Far Shore: Vipassana, the Practice of Insight (1999)

A. Charles Muller (trans.), The Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment: Korean Buddhism's Guide to Meditation (1999)

Chih-i, Stopping and Seeing: A Comprehensive Course in Buddhist Meditation trans. Thomas Cleary (1997)

Donald K. Swearer, Secrets of the Lotus: Studies in Buddhist Meditation (1997)

Bhante Henepola Gunaratana, Mindfulness in Plain English (1996)

Sayadaw U. Silananda, The Four Foundations of Mindfulness, ed. Ruth-Inge Heinze (1995)

Claude F. Whitmyer (ed.), Mindfulness and Meaningful Work: Explorations in Right Livelihood (1994)

Johannes Bronkhorst, The Two Traditions of Meditation in Ancient India (1993)

Joseph Goldstein, Insight Meditation: The Practice of Freedom (1993)

Amadeo Sole-Leris, Tranquillity and Insight: An Introduction to the Oldest Form of Buddhist Meditation (1992)

Charles Luk, Secrets of Chinese Meditation: Self-Cultivation by Mind Control As Taught in the Ch'an, Mahayana and Taoist Schools in China (1991)

Chögyam Trungpa, Meditation in Action (1991)

Geshe G. Lodro, Walking Through Walls: A Presentation of Tibetan Meditation (1990)

Joseph Goldstein, The Experience of Insight: A Simple and Direct Guide to Buddhist Meditation (1987)

Bhikkhu Nanamoli, Mindfulness of Breathing: Buddhist Texts from the Pāli Canon and Extracts from the Pali Commentaries (1982)

Nyanaponika Thera (ed. & trans.), The Heart of Buddhist Meditation (1973)

Western society has never been more interested in interiority. Indeed, it seems more and more people are deliberately looking inward—toward the mind, the body, or both. Pagis’s book focuses on one increasingly popular channel for the introverted gaze: vipassana meditation, which has spread from Burma to more than forty countries and counting. Lacing her account with vivid anecdotes and personal stories, Pagis turns our attention not only to the practice of vipassana but to the communities that have sprung up around it. This work is also a social history of the westward diffusion of Eastern religious practices spurred on by the lingering effects of the British colonial presence in India. At the same time Pagis asks knotty questions about what happens when we continually turn inward, as she investigates the complex relations between physical selves, emotional selves, and our larger social worlds. Her book sheds new light on evergreen topics such as globalization, social psychology, and the place of the human body in the enduring process of self-awareness.

Mindful meditation is now embraced in virtually all corners of society today, from K-12 schools to Fortune 100 companies, and its virtues extolled by national and international media almost daily. It is thought to benefit our health and overall well-being, to counter stress, to help children pay attention, and to foster creativity, productivity and emotional intelligence. Yet in the 1960s and 1970s meditation was viewed as a marginal, counter-cultural practice, or a religious ritual for Asian immigrants. How did mindfulness become mainstream? Kucinskas reveals who is behind the mindfulness movement, and the engine they built to propel mindfulness into public consciousness. Drawing on over a hundred first-hand accounts with top scientists, religious leaders, educators, business people and investors, Kucinskas shows how this highly accomplished, affluent group in America transformed meditation into an appealing set of contemplative practices. Rather than relying on confrontation and protest to make their mark and improve society, the contemplatives sought a cultural revolution by building elite networks and advocating the benefits of meditation across professions. But this idealistic myopia came to reinforce some of the problems it originally aspired to solve. A critical look at this Buddhist-inspired movement, this book explores how elite movements can spread and draws larger lessons for other social, cultural, and religious movements across institutions and organizations.

This book offers a new interpretation of the relationship between 'insight practice' (satipatthana) and the attainment of the four jhanas (i.e., right samadhi ), a key problem in the study of Buddhist meditation. The author challenges the traditional Buddhist understanding of the four jhanas as states of absorption, and shows how these states are the actualization and embodiment of insight (vipassana). It proposes that the four jhanas and what we call 'vipassana' are integral dimensions of a single process that leads to awakening. This book demonstrates that the distinction between the 'practice of serenity' (samatha-bhavana) and the 'practice of insight' (vipassana-bhavana) – a fundamental distinction in Buddhist meditation theory – is not applicable to early Buddhist understanding of the meditative path. It seeks to show that the common interpretation of the jhanas as 'altered states of consciousness', absorptions that do not reveal anything about the nature of phenomena, is incompatible with the teachings of the Pali Nikayas. By carefully analyzing the descriptions of the four jhanas in the early Buddhist texts in Pali, their contexts, associations and meanings within the conceptual framework of early Buddhism, the relationship between this central element in the Buddhist path and 'insight meditation' becomes revealed in all its power. This book will be of interest to scholars of Buddhist studies, Asian philosophies and religions, as well as serious practitioners of insight meditation.

Dharma practice comprises a wide range of wise instructions and skillful means. As a result, meditators may be exposed to a diversity of approaches to the core teachings and the meditative path--and that can be confusing at times. In this clear and accessible exploration, Dharma teacher and longtime meditator Richard Shankman unravels the mix of differing, sometimes conflicting, views and traditional teachings on how samadhi (concentration) is understood and taught. In part one, Richard Shankman explores the range of teachings and views about samadhi in the Theravada Pali tradition, examines different approaches, and considers how they can inform and enrich our meditation practice. Part two consists of a series of interviews with prominent contemporary Theravada and vipassana (insight) Buddhist teachers. These discussions focus on the practical experience of samadhi, bringing the theoretical to life and offering a range of applications.

Monasticism

Stephen J. Davis, Monasticism: A Very Short Introduction (2018)

Susan Andrews et al (eds.), Rules of Engagement: Medieval Traditions of Buddhist Monastic Regulation (2017)

Bhikkhu Khantipalo, Banner of the Arahants: Buddhist Monks and Nuns from the Buddha's Time Till Now (2016)

Jeffrey Samuels, Attracting the Heart: Social Relations and the Aesthetics of Emotion in Sri Lankan Monastic Culture (2016)

Malcolm Voyce, Foucault, Buddhism and Disciplinary Rules (2016)

Bhikkhu Nyanatusita, Analysis of the Bhikkhu Patimokkha (2014)

Bhikkhu Nyanatusita (ed. & trans.), The Bhikkhu Patimokkha: A Word by Word Translation (2014)

Tim Ward, What the Buddha Never Taught (2013)

Jonathan A. Silk, Managing Monks: Administrators and Administrative Roles in Indian Buddhist Monasticism (2008)

Jotiya Dhirasekera, Buddhist Monastic Discipline: A Study of Its Origin and Development in Relation to the Sutta and Vinaya Pitakas (2007)

Li Rongxi & Albert A. Dalia (trans.), Lives of Great Monks and Nuns (2006)

Koichi Shinohara & Phyllis Granoff, Speaking of Monks: From Benares to Beijing (2006)

William Bodiford (ed.), Going Forth: Visions of Buddhist Vinaya (2005)

Pierre Pichard & Francois Lagirarde, The Buddhist Monastery: A Cross-Cultural Survey (2003)

Ann Heirman, Rules for Nuns According to the Dharmaguptakavinaya: "The Discipline in Four Parts" (2002)

Venerable Bhikshuni Wu Yin, Choosing Simplicity: A Commentary on the Bhikshuni Pratimoksha, ed. Bhikshuni Thubten Chodron, trans. Bhikshuni Jendy Shih (2001)

W. Pachow, A Comparative Study of the Pratimoksa: On the Basis of its Chinese, Tibetan, Sanskrit, and Pali Versions (2000)

Charles S. Prebish, Buddhist Monastic Discipline: The Sanskrit Pratimoksa Sutras of the Mahasamghikas and Mulasarvastivadins (1996)

Charles S. Prebish, A Survey of Vinaya Literature, Volume One (1996)

Thanissaro Bhikkhu, The Buddhist Monastic Code, 2 vols. (1994)

Charles Wei-hsun Fu & Sandra A. Wawrytko (eds.), Buddhist Behavioral Codes and the Modern World (1994)

Gunaratne Panabokke, History of the Buddhist Sangha in India and Sri Lanka (1993)

Sunanda Putuwar, The Buddhist Sangha: Paradigm of the Ideal Human Society (1991)

Mohan Wijayaratna, Buddhist Monastic Life, according to the Texts of the Theravada Tradition (1990)

Walpola Rahula, The Heritage of the Bhikkhu (1987)

Heinz Bechert & Richard Gombrich (eds.), The World of Buddhism: Buddhist Monks and Nuns in Society and Culture (1984)

John C. Holt, Discipline: The Canonical Buddhism of the Vinayapitaka (1983)

Nandasena ratnapala (ed. & trans.), the katikavatas: laws of the buddhist order of ceylon from the 12th century to the 18th century (1971).

Nalinaksha Dutt, Early Monastic Buddhism, 2 vols. (1960)

Sukumar Dutt, Early Buddhist Monachism (1960)

Erich Frauwallner, The Earliest Vinaya and the Beginnings of Buddhist Literature (1956)

Recent years have seen heightened interest in the ritual, juridical, and generally practical aspects of the Buddhist tradition. The contributions to this edited volume build on this trend while venturing beyond the established boundaries of discourse in specialized academic disciplines, presenting state-of-the-art research on the vinaya in all of its breadth and depth. They do so not only by tracing Buddhist textual traditions but also by showcasing the vast variety of practices that are the object of such regulations and throw a new light on the social implications such protocols have had in South, Central, and East Asia.

Vinaya, one of the three main categories of Buddhist scripture, functions not only as a type of canon law, but also as a founding charter for Buddhist institutional practice in East Asia. In its role as a scriptural charter, vinaya has justified widely dissimilar approaches to religious life as Buddhist orders in different times and places have interpreted it in contradictory ways. In the resulting tension between scripture and practice, certain kinds of ceremonial issues acquire profound social, psychological, doctrinal, and soteriological significance in Buddhism. This collection focuses on these issues over a wide sweep of history--from early fifth-century China to modern Japan--to provide readers with a rich overview of the intersection of doctrinal, ritual, and institutional concerns in the development of East Asian Buddhist practices. Despite the crucial importance of vinaya, especially for understanding Buddhism in East Asia, very little scholarship in Western languages exists on this fascinating topic. The essays presented here, written by senior scholars in the field, address how actual people responded to local social and cultural imperatives by reading scripture in innovative ways to give new life to tradition. They place real people, practices, and institutions at the center of each account, revealing both diversity and unity in Buddhist customs.

This work discusses the precepts and lifestyle of fully ordained nuns within the Buddhist tradition. The ordination vows act as guidelines to promote harmony both within the individual and within the community by regulating and thereby simplifying one's relationships to other sangha members and laypeople, as well as to the needs of daily life. Observing these precepts and practicing the Buddhadharma brings incredible benefit to oneself and others. Since the nuns' precepts include those for monks and have additional rules for nuns, this book is useful for anyone interested in monastic life. As a record of women's struggle not only to achieve a life of self-discipline, but also to create harmonious independent religious communities of women, this volume is a pioneering work.

This book provides a vivid and detailed picture of the daily life and religious practices of Buddhist monks and nuns in the classic period of Theravada Buddhism. The author describes the way in which the Buddha's disciples institutionalized and ritualized his teachings about food, dress, money, chastity, solitude, and discipleship. This tradition represents an ideal of religious life that has been followed in India and South Asia for more than two thousand years. The introduction by Steven Collins describes Theravada Buddhist literature, discusses the issue of the historical reliability of the texts, and offers extensive suggestions for further reading. The book will be of interest to scholars and students in Asian studies, religious studies, anthropology, and history.

Medicine & Health

C. Pierce Salguero, A Global History of Buddhism and Medicine (2022)

C. Pierce Salguero & Andrew Macomber (eds.), Buddhist Healing in Medieval China and Japan (2020)

C. Pierce Salguero (ed.), Buddhism and Medicine: An Anthology of Modern and Contemporary Sources (2019)

Katja Triplett, Buddhism and Medicine in Japan: A Topical Survey (500-1600 CE) of a Complex Relationship (2019)

Thomas N. Patton, The Buddha's Wizards: Magic, Protection, and Healing in Burmese Buddhism (2018)

C. Pierce Salguero, Buddhism and Medicine: An Anthology of Premodern Sources (2017)

C. Pierce Salguero, Traditional Thai Medicine: Buddhism, Animism, Yoga, Ayurveda (2016)

Jan Chozen Bays, Jizo Bodhisattva: Modern Healing & Traditional Buddhist Practice (2015)

Janet Gyatso, Being Human in a Buddhist World: An Intellectual History of Medicine in Early Modern Tibet (2015)

C. Pierce Salguero, Translating Buddhist Medicine in Medieval China (2014)

Andrew E. Goble, Confluences of Medicine in Medieval Japan: Buddhist Healing, Chinese Knowledge, Islamic Formulas, and Wounds of War (2011)

Paul Brenner, Buddha in the Waiting Room: Simple Truths about Health, Illness, and Healing (2007)

Michel Strickmann, Chinese Magical Medicine (2005)

Sharon Cameron, Beautiful Work: A Meditation on Pain (2000)

Raoul Birnbaum, The Healing Buddha (1980)

Pluralism & Tolerance: Buddhism & Other Religions

C.V. Jones (ed.), Buddhism and Its Religious Others: Historical Encounters and Representations (2022)

R. Michael Feener & Anne M. Blackburn (eds.), Buddhist and Islamic Orders in Southern Asia: Comparative Perspectives (2021)

Jijimon Alakkalam Joseph, Christian-Zen Dialogue: Sacred Stories As a Starting Point for Interfaith Dialogue (2021)

Yongho Francis Lee, Mysticism and Intellect in Medieval Christianity and Buddhism (2021)

Monica Sanford, Kalyanamitra: A Model for Buddhist Spiritual Care, Volume 1 (2021)

Douglas S. Duckworth, J. Abraham Vélez de Cea, & Elizabeth J. Harris (eds.), Buddhist Responses to Religious Diversity: Theravada and Tibetan Perspectives (2020)

Pehr Granqvist, Attachment in Religion and Spirituality: A Wider View (2020)

Harold Coward, Word, Chant, and Song: Spiritual Transformation in Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, and Sikhism (2019)

Peter Harvey, Buddhism and Monotheism (2019)

S. Mark Heim, Crucified Wisdom: Theological Reflection on Christ and the Bodhisattva (2018)

J. Abraham Velez de Cea, The Buddha and Religious Diversity (2017)

Kristin Beise Kiblinger, Buddhist Inclusivism: Attitudes Towards Religious Others (2017)

Anh Q. Tran (ed. & trans.), Gods, Heroes, and Ancestors: An Interreligious Encounter in Eighteenth-Century Vietnam (2017)

Gavin D'Costa & Ross Thompson (eds.), Buddhist-Christian Dual Belonging: Affirmations, Objections, Explorations (2016)

Hugh Nicholson, The Spirit of Contradiction in Christianity and Buddhism (2016)

Corinna Nicolaou, A None's Story: Searching for Meaning Inside Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, and Islam (2016)

John Raymaker, Bernard Lonergan's Third Way of the Heart and Mind: Bridging Some Buddhist-Christian-Muslim-Secularist Misunderstandings with a Global Secularity Ethics (2016)

Perry Schmidt-Leukel, Buddhism, Christianity and the Question of Creation: Karmic or Divine? (2016)

Alan Cole, Fetishizing Tradition: Desire and Reinvention in Buddhist and Christian Narratives (2015)

Gavin Flood, The Truth Within: A History of Inwardness in Christianity, Hinduism, and Buddhism (2015)

Jan van Bragt, Interreligious Affinities: Encounters with the Kyoto School and the Religions of Japan, ed. James W. Heisig et al (2014)

Donald S. Lopez, Jr. & Peggy McCracken, In Search of the Christian Buddha: How an Asian Sage Became a Medieval Saint (2014)

Paul Gwynne, Buddha, Jesus and Muhammad: A Comparative Study (2013)

Michael Pye & Robert Morgan (eds.), The Cardinal Meaning: Essays in Comparative Hermeneutics. Buddhism and Christianity (2013)

John Ross Carter, In the Company of Friends: Exploring Faith with Buddhists and Christians (2012)

Kari Storstein Haug, Interpreting Proverbs 11:18-31, Psalm 73, and Ecclesiastes 9:1-12 in Light of, and As a Response to, Thai Buddhist Interpretations (2012)

Peter D. Hershock, Valuing Diversity: Buddhist Reflection on Realizing a More Equitable Global Future (2012)

Kazuo Muto, Christianity and the Notion of Nothingness: Contributions to Buddhist-Christian Dialogue from the Kyoto School, ed. Martin Repp, trans. Jan van Bragt (2012)

Perry Schmidt-Leukel (ed.), Buddhism and Religious Diversity: Critical Concepts in Religious Studies (2012)

Amos Yong, Cosmic Breath: Spirit and Nature in the Christianity-Buddhism-Science Trialogue (2012)

Amos Yong, Pneumatology and the Christian-Buddhist Dialogue (2012)

Rose Drew, Buddhist and Christian? An Exploration of Dual Belonging (2011)

Daniel Dubuisson, Wisdoms of Humanity: Buddhism, Paganism, and Christianity (2011)

Eileen Rizo-Patron & Richard Kearney (eds.), Traversing the Heart: Journeys of the Inter-religious Imagination (2010)

Jin Baek, Nothingness: Tadao Ando's Christian Sacred Space (2009)

B. Alan Wallace, Mind in the Balance: Meditation in Science, Buddhism, & Christianity (2009)

Winston L. King, Buddhism and Christianity: Some Bridges of Understanding (2008)

Paul O. Ingram, Buddhist-Christian Dialogue in an Age of Science (2007)

Rita M. Gross & Terry C. Muck (eds.), Christians Talk about Buddhist Meditation, Buddhists Talk about Christian Prayer (2003)

John Raymaker, Empowering the Lonely Crowd: Pope John Paul II, Lonergan, and Japanese Buddhism (2003)

John Raymaker, A Buddhist-Christian Logic of the Heart: Nishida's Kyoto School and Lonergan's "Spiritual Genome" as World Bridge (2002)

J.P. Williams, Denying Divinity: Apophasis in the Patristic Christian and Soto Zen Buddhist Traditions (2001)

Rita M. Gross & Terry C. Muck (eds.), Buddhists Talk about Jesus, Christians Talk about the Buddha (2000)

Sallie B. King & Paul O. Ingram (eds.), The Sound of Liberating Truth: Buddhist-Christian Dialogues in Honor of Frederick J. Streng (1999)

Fritz Buri, The Buddha-Christ As the Lord of the True Self: The Religious Philosophy of the Kyoto School and Christianity, trans. Harold H. Oliver (1997)

Robert R. Magliola, On Deconstructing Life-Worlds: Buddhism, Christianity, Culture (1997)

Donald W. Mitchell & James Wiseman, O.S.B., eds., The Gethsemani Encounter: A Dialogue on the Spiritual Life by Buddhist and Christian Monastics (1997)

Denise Lardner Carmody & John Tully Carmody, In the Path of the Masters: Understanding the Spirituality of Buddha, Confucius, Jesus, and Muhammad (1996)

John Tully Carmody & Denise Lardner Carmody, Serene Compassion: A Christian Appreciation of Buddhist Holiness (1996)

David Loy (ed.), Healing Deconstruction: Postmodern Thought in Buddhism and Christianity (1996)

Masao Abe, Buddhism and Interfaith Dialogue, ed. Steven Heine (1995)

Russell H. Bowers, Someone or Nothing? Nishitani's "Religion and Nothingness" as a Foundation for Christian-Buddhist Dialogue (1995)

John b. cobb, jr., & christopher a. ives (eds.), the emptying god: a buddhist-jewish-christian conversation (1990).

Donald S. Lopez & Steven C. Rockefeller (eds.), The Christ and the Bodhisattva (1987)

Hajime Nakamura, Buddhism in Comparative Light (1986)

Hans waldenfels, absolute nothingness: foundations for a buddhist-christian dialogue, trans. james w. heisig (1980).

Lynn A. De Silva, The Problem of the Self in Buddhism and Christianity (1979)

D.T. Suzuki, Mysticism: Christian and Buddhist (1976)

James W. Boyd, Satan and Māra: Christian and Buddhist Symbols of Evil (1975)

J. Estlin Carpenter, Buddhism and Christianity: A Contrast and Parallel (1922)

Though a minority religion in Vietnam, Christianity has been a significant presence in the country since its arrival in the sixteenth century. In this volume, Tran offers the first English translation of the recently discovered 1752 manuscript Tam Giao Chu Vong (The Errors of the Three Religions). Structured as a dialogue between a Christian priest and a Confucian scholar, this anonymously authored manuscript paints a rich picture of the three traditional Vietnamese religions: Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism. The work explains and evaluates several religious beliefs, customs, and rituals of eighteenth-century Vietnam, many of which are still in practice today. In addition, it contains a trove of information on the challenges and struggles that Vietnamese Christian converts had to face in following the new faith.

The cognitive science of religion has shown that abstract religious concepts within many established religious traditions often fail to correspond to what the majority of their adherents actually believe. Yet the cognitive approach to religion is largely silent on the question of how the doctrinal views developed in the first place. Nicholson aims to fill this gap by arguing that such doctrines can be understood as developing out of social identity processes. He focuses on the historical development of the Christian doctrine of consubstantiality, the claim that the Son is of the same substance as the Father, and the Buddhist doctrine of no-self, the claim that the personality is reducible to its impersonal physical and psychological constituents. Nicholson argues that that these doctrines were each the products of intra- and inter-religious rivalry, in which one faction tried to get the upper hand over its ingroup rivals by maximizing the contrast with the dominant outgroup. Thus the theologians of the fourth century developed the concept of consubstantiality in the context of an effort to maximize, against their rivals, the contrast with Christianity's archetypal "other," Judaism. Similarly, the no-self doctrine stemmed from an effort to maximize, against the so-called Personalist schools of Buddhism, the contrast with Brahmanical Hinduism with its doctrine of an unchanging and eternal self. In this way, Nicholson shows how religious traditions can back themselves into doctrinal positions that they must retrospectively justify.

Diversity matters. Whether in the context of ecosystems, education, the workplace, or politics, diversity is now recognized as a fact and as something to be positively affirmed. But what is the value of diversity? What explains its increasing significance? This book is a groundbreaking response to these questions and to the contemporary global dynamics that make them so salient. Peter D. Hershock examines the changes of the last century to show how the successes of Western-style modernity and industrially-powered markets have, ironically, coupled progressive integration and interdependence with the proliferation of political, economic, social, cultural, and environmental differences. Global predicaments like climate change and persistent wealth inequalities compel recognition that we are in the midst of an era-defining shift from the primacy of the technical to that of the ethical. Yet, neither modern liberalism nor its postmodern critiques have offered the resources needed to address such challenges. Making use of Buddhist and ecological insights, Hershock's book develops a qualitatively rich conception of diversity as an emerging value and global relational commons, forwarding an ethics of interdependence and responsive virtuosity that opens prospects for a paradigm shift in our pursuits of equity, freedom, and democratic justice.

Based around an interview with Tadao Ando, this book explores the influence of the Buddhist concept of nothingness on Ando’s Christian architecture, and sheds new light on the cultural significance of the buildings of one of the world’s leading contemporary architects. Specifically, this book situates Ando’s churches, particularly his world-renowned Church of the Light (1989), within the legacy of nothingness expounded by Kitaro Nishida (1870-1945), the father of the Kyoto Philosophical School. Linking Ando’s Christian architecture with a philosophy originating in Mahayana Buddhism illuminates the relationship between the two religious systems, as well as tying Ando’s architecture to the influence of Nishida on post-war Japanese art and culture.

Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy

Laura Burges, The Zen Way of Recovery: An Illuminated Path out of the Darkness of Addiction (2023)

Mark Epstein, The Zen of Therapy: Uncovering a Hidden Kindness in Life (2022)

John Davis, The Diamond Approach: An Introduction to the Teachings of A.H. Almaas (2021)

Hyunsoo Jeon, Buddhist Psychotherapy: Wisdom from Early Buddhist Teaching (2021)

Arnold Kozak, The Buddha Was a Psychologist: A Rational Approach to Buddhist Teachings (2021)

Joseph Bobrow, Zen and Psychotherapy: Partners in Liberation (2020)

Michal Barnea-Astrog, Psychoanalytic and Buddhist Reflections on Gentleness: Sensitivity, Fear, and the Drive Towards Truth (2019)

Ira Helderman, Prescribing the Dharma: Psychotherapists, Buddhist Traditions, and Defining Religion (2019)

Wakoh Shannon Hickey, Mind Cure: From Meditation to Medicine (2019)

Itai Ivtzan (ed.), Handbook of Mindfulness-Based Programmes: Mindfulness Interventions from Education to Health and Therapy (2019)

Christian U. Krägeloh et al, Mindfulness-Based Intervention Research: Characteristics, Approaches, and Developments (2019)

Paul C. Cooper, Zen Insight, Psychoanalytic Action (2018)

Yorai Sella, From Dualism to Oneness in Psychoanalysis: A Zen Perspective on the Mind-Body Question (2018)

Manu Bazzano, Zen and Therapy: Heretical Perspectives (2017)

Pilar Jennings, To Heal a Wounded Heart: The Transformative Power of Buddhism and Psychotherapy in Action (2017)

Peg LeVine, Classic Morita Therapy: Consciousness, Zen, Justice and Trauma (2017)

Joseph Loizzo et al (eds.), Advances in Contemplative Psychotherapy: Accelerating Healing and Transformation (2017)

Padmasiri de Silva, Emotions and the Body in Buddhist Contemplative Practice and Mindfulness-Based Therapy: Pathways of Somatic Intelligence (2017)

Itai Ivtzan & Tim Lomas (eds.), Mindfulness in Positive Psychology: The Science of Meditation and Well-Being (2016)

Richard W. Sears, The Sense of Self: Perspectives from Science and Zen Buddhism (2016)

Erik van den Brink & Frits Koster, Mindfulness-Based Compassionate Living: A New Training Programme to Deepen Mindfulness with Heartfulness (2015)

Mark Epstein, Going to Pieces Without Falling Apart: A Buddhist Perspective on Wholeness (2015)

Padmasiri De Silva, An Introduction to Buddhist Psychology and Counselling: Pathways of Mindfulness-Based Therapies (2014)

Anthony Molino (ed.), Crossroads in Psychoanalysis, Buddhism, and Mindfulness: The Word and the Breath (2013)

Jeffrey B. Rubin, Psychotherapy and Buddhism: Toward an Integration (2013)

Cheryl A. Giles & Willa B. Miller (eds.), The Arts of Contemplative Care: Pioneering Voices in Buddhist Chaplaincy and Pastoral Work (2012)

Barry Magid, Ordinary Mind: Exploring the Common Ground of Zen and Psychoanalysis (2012)

Jeremy D. Safran (ed.), Psychoanalysis and Buddhism: An Unfolding Dialogue (2012)

B. Alan Wallace, The Taboo of Subjectivity: Toward a New Science of Consciousness (2011)

Maurits G.T. Kwee (ed.), New Horizons in Buddhist Psychology: Relational Buddhism for Collaborative Practitioners (2010)

Andrew Olendzki, Unlimiting Mind: The Radically Experiential Psychology of Buddhism (2010)

Anne Maiden Brown et al, The Tibetan Art of Parenting: From Before Conception Through Early Childhood (2009)

Paul C. Cooper, The Zen Impulse and the Psychoanalytic Encounter (2009)

Marvin Levine, The Positive Psychology of Buddhism and Yoga (2009)

Dale Mathers et al (eds.), Self and No-Self: Continuing the Dialogue Between Buddhism and Psychotherapy (2009)

Mark Epstein, Psychotherapy Without the Self: A Buddhist Perspective (2008)

Maurits Kwee et al (eds.), Horizons in Buddhist Psychology (2006)

Robert Langan & Robert Coles, Minding What Matters: Psychotherapy and the Buddha Within (2006)

Dinesh Kumar Nauriyal, Michael S. Drummond, & Y.B. Lal (eds.), Buddhist Thought and Applied Psychological Research: Transcending the Boundaries (2006)

Padmasiri de Silva, An Introduction to Buddhist Psychology, 4th ed. (2005)

Harvey B. Aronson, Buddhist Practice on Western Ground: Reconciling Eastern Ideals and Western Psychology (2004)

Seth Robert Segall (ed.), Encountering Buddhism: Western Psychology and Buddhist Teachings (2003)

David Brazier, The Feeling Buddha: A Buddhist Psychology of Character, Adversity, and Passion (2002)

Radmila Moacanin, The Essence of Jung's Psychology and Tibetan Buddhism: Western and Eastern Paths to the Heart (2002)

Mark Epstein, Going on Being: Buddhism and the Way of Change: A Positive Psychology for the West (2001)

John Welwood, Toward a Psychology of Awakening: Buddhism, Psychotherapy, and the Path of Personal and Spiritual Transformation (2000)

Gay Watson, The Resonance of Emptiness: A Buddhist Inspiration for a Contemporary Psychotherapy (1998)

David Brazier, Zen Therapy: Transcending the Sorrows of the Human Mind (1997)

Christopher deCharms, Two Views of Mind: Abhidharma and Brain Science (1997)

Mark Epstein, Thoughts Without a Thinker: Psychotherapy from a Buddhist Perspective (1995)

John R. Suler, Contemporary Psychoanalysis and Eastern Thought (1993)

Nathan Katz (ed.), Buddhist and Western Psychology (1983)

Mindfulness and yoga are widely said to improve mental and physical health, and booming industries have emerged to teach them as secular techniques. This movement is typically traced to the 1970s, but it actually began a century earlier. Hickey shows that most of those who first advocated meditation for healing were women: leaders of the "Mind Cure" movement, which emerged during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Instructed by Buddhist and Hindu missionaries, many of these women believed that by transforming consciousness, they could also transform oppressive conditions in which they lived. For women - and many African-American men - "Mind Cure" meant not just happiness, but liberation in concrete political, economic, and legal terms. In response to the perceived threat posed by this movement, white male doctors and clergy with elite academic credentials began to channel key Mind Cure methods into "scientific" psychology and medicine. As mental therapeutics became medicalized and commodified, the religious roots of meditation, like the social-justice agendas of early Mind Curers, fell by the wayside. Although characterized as "universal," mindfulness has very specific historical and cultural roots, and is now largely marketed by and accessible to affluent white people. Hickey examines religious dimensions of the Mindfulness movement and clinical research about its effectiveness. By treating stress-related illness individualistically, she argues, the contemporary movement obscures the roles religious communities can play in fostering civil society and personal well-being, and diverts attention from systemic factors fueling stress-related illness, including racism, sexism, and poverty.

Drawing from original source material, contemporary scholarship, and Wilfred Bion’s psychoanalytic writings, this book introduces the Zen notion of gūjin, or total exertion, and elaborates a realizational perspective that integrates Zen Buddhism and psychoanalysis. Developed by the thirteenth-century Zen teacher and founder of the Japanese Soto Zen school, Eihei Dogen, gūjin finds expression and is referenced in various contemporary scholarly and religious commentaries. This book explains this pivotal Zen concept and addresses themes by drawing from translated source material, academic scholarship, traditional Zen kōans and teaching stories, extensive commentarial literature, interpretive writings by contemporary Soto Zen teachers, psychoanalytic theory, clinical material, and poetry, as well as the author’s thirty years of personal experience as a psychoanalyst, supervisor, psychoanalytic educator, ordained Soto Zen priest, and transmitted Soto Zen teacher. From a realizational perspective that integrates Zen and psychoanalytic concepts, the book extends the scope and increases the effectiveness of clinical work for the psychotherapist, and facilitates deepened experiences for the meditation practitioner.

This collection brings together the latest thinking in these two important disciplines. Positive psychology, the science of well-being and strengths, is the fastest growing branch of psychology, offering an optimal home for the research and application of mindfulness. As we contemplate mindfulness in the context of positive psychology, meaningful insights are being revealed in relation to our mental and physical health. The book features chapters from leading figures from mindfulness and positive psychology, offering an exciting combination of topics. Mindfulness is explored in relation to flow, meaning, parenthood, performance, sports, obesity, depression, pregnancy, spirituality, happiness, mortality, and many other ground-breaking topics. This is an invitation to rethink about mindfulness in ways that truly expands our understanding of well-being. The work will appeal to a readership of students and practitioners, as well as those interested in mindfulness, positive psychology, or other relevant areas such as education, healthcare, clinical psychology, counselling psychology, occupational psychology, and coaching. The contributors explore cutting edge theories, research, and practical exercises, which will be relevant to all people interested in this area, and particularly those who wish to enhance their well-being via mindfulness.

Immersed in Buddhist psychology prior to studying Western psychiatry, Dr. Mark Epstein first viewed Western therapeutic approaches through the lens of the East. This posed something of a challenge. Although both systems promise liberation through self-awareness, the central tenet of Buddha's wisdom is the notion of no-self, while the central focus of Western psychotherapy is the self. This book, which includes writings from the past twenty-five years, wrestles with the complex relationship between Buddhism and psychotherapy and offers nuanced reflections on therapy, meditation, and psychological and spiritual development. A best-selling author and popular speaker, Epstein has long been at the forefront of the effort to introduce Buddhist psychology to the West. His unique background enables him to serve as a bridge between the two traditions, which he has found to be more compatible than at first thought. Engaging with the teachings of the Buddha as well as those of Freud and Winnicott, he offers a compelling look at desire, anger, and insight and helps reinterpret the Buddha's Four Noble Truths and central concepts such as egolessness and emptiness in the psychoanalytic language of our time.

Philosophical Psychology & Philosophy of Mind

John Peacock & Martine Batchelor (eds.), The Definition, Practice and Psychology of Vedana: Knowing How It Feels (2019)

Philip J. Ivanhoe et al (eds.), The Oneness Hypothesis: Beyond the Boundary of Self (2018)

Rick Repetti, Buddhism, Meditation, and Free Will: A Theory of Mental Freedom (2018)

Padmasiri de Silva, The Psychology of Emotions and Humour in Buddhism (2018)

Gert Hofmann & Snježana Zorić (eds.), Presence of the Body: Awareness in and beyond Experience (2016)

Irina Kuznetsova et al (eds.), Hindu and Buddhist Ideas in Dialogue: Self and No-Self (2016)

Rick Repetti (ed.), Buddhist Perspectives on Free Will: Agentless Agency (2016)

Mark Siderits, Personal Identity and Buddhist Philosophy: Empty Persons, 2nd ed. (2016)

Christian Coseru, Perceiving Reality: Consciousness, Intentionality, and Cognition in Buddhist Philosophy (2015)

Zhihua Yao, The Buddhist Theory of Self-Cognition (2014)

John Pickering, The Authority of Experience: Essays on Buddhism and Psychology (2013)

Miri Albahari, Analytical Buddhism: The Two-Tiered Illusion of Self (2006)

Stephanie Kaza (ed.), Hooked! Buddhist Writings on Greed, Desire, and the Urge to Consume (2005)

Joan Stambaugh, The Formless Self (1999)

R. S. Khare (ed.), The Eternal Food: Gastronomic Ideas and Experiences of Hindus and Buddhists (1992)

David J. Kalupahana, Principles of Buddhist Psychology (1987)

Yasuo Yuasa, The Body: Toward an Eastern Mind-Body Theory, ed. & trans. Thomas P. Kasulis & Shigenori Nagatomo (1987)

Paul Griffiths, On Being Mindless: Buddhist Meditation and the Mind-Body Problem (1986)

E.R. Sarachchandra, Buddhist Psychology of Perception (1958)

The idea that the self is inextricably intertwined with the rest of the world―the “oneness hypothesis”―can be found in many of the world’s philosophical and religious traditions. Oneness provides ways to imagine and achieve a more expansive conception of the self as fundamentally connected with other people, creatures, and things. Such views present profound challenges to Western hyperindividualism and its excessive concern with self-interest and tendency toward self-centered behavior. This anthology presents a wide-ranging, interdisciplinary exploration of the nature and implications of the oneness hypothesis. While fundamentally inspired by East and South Asian traditions, in which such a view is often critical to their philosophical approach, this collection also draws upon religious studies, psychology, and Western philosophy, as well as sociology, evolutionary theory, and cognitive neuroscience. Contributors trace the oneness hypothesis through the works of East Asian and Western schools, including Confucianism, Mohism, Daoism, Buddhism, and Platonism and such thinkers as Zhuangzi, Kant, James, and Dewey. They intervene in debates over ethics, cultural difference, identity, group solidarity, and the positive and negative implications of metaphors of organic unity. Challenging dominant views that presume that the proper scope of the mind stops at the boundaries of skin and skull, this work shows that a more relational conception of the self is not only consistent with contemporary science but has the potential to lead to greater happiness and well-being for both individuals and the larger wholes of which they are parts.

Since the publication of Mark Siderits' important book in 2003, much has changed in the field of Buddhist philosophy. There has been unprecedented growth in analytic metaphysics, and a considerable amount of new work on Indian theories of the self and personal identity has emerged. Fully revised and updated, and drawing on these changes as well as on developments in the author's own thinking, the second edition explores the conversation between Buddhist and Western Philosophy showing how concepts and tools drawn from one philosophical tradition can help solve problems arising in another. Siderits discusses afresh areas involved in the philosophical investigation of persons, including vagueness and its implications for personal identity, recent attempts by scholars of Buddhist philosophy to defend the attribution of an emergentist account of personhood to at least some Buddhists, and whether a distinctively Buddhist antirealism can avoid problems that beset other forms of ontological anti-foundationalism.

What turns the continuous flow of experience into perceptually distinct objects? Can our verbal descriptions unambiguously capture what it is like to see, hear, or feel? How might we reason about the testimony that perception alone discloses? Coseru proposes a rigorous and highly original way to answer these questions by developing a framework for understanding perception as a mode of apprehension that is intentionally constituted, pragmatically oriented, and causally effective. By engaging with recent discussions in phenomenology and analytic philosophy of mind, but also by drawing on the work of Husserl and Merleau-Ponty, Coseru offers a sustained argument that Buddhist philosophers, in particular those who follow the tradition of inquiry initiated by Dignaga and Dharmakirti, have much to offer when it comes to explaining why epistemological disputes about the evidential role of perceptual experience cannot satisfactorily be resolved without taking into account the structure of our cognitive awareness. This work examines the function of perception and its relation to attention, language, and discursive thought, and provides new ways of conceptualizing the Buddhist defense of the reflexivity thesis of consciousness--namely, that each cognitive event is to be understood as involving a pre-reflective implicit awareness of its own occurrence. Coseru advances an innovative approach to Buddhist philosophy of mind in the form of phenomenological naturalism, and moves beyond comparative approaches to philosophy by emphasizing the continuity of concerns between Buddhist and Western philosophical accounts of the nature of perceptual content and the character of perceptual consciousness.

Gathering and interpreting material that is not readily available elsewhere, this book discusses the thought of the Japanese Buddhist philosophers Dogen, Hisamatsu, and Nishitani. Stambaugh develops ideas about the self culminating in the concept of the Formless Self as formulated by Hisamatsu in his book The Fullness of Nothingness and the essay "The Characteristics of Oriental Nothingness," and further explicated by Nishitani in his book Religion and Nothingness. These works show that Oriental nothingness has nothing to do with the 19th- and 20th-century Western concept of nihilism; rather, it is a positive phenomenon: enabling things to be.

Science: Mind & Universe

Thupten Jinpa (ed.), Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist Classics, Volume 2: The Mind, trans. Dechen Rochard & John D. Dunne (2020)

David Presti et al, Mind Beyond Brain: Buddhism, Science, and the Paranormal (2019)

Robert Wright, Why Buddhism Is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment (2018)

Dusana Dorjee, Neuroscience and Psychology of Meditation in Everyday Life: Searching for the Essence of Mind (2017)

Arri Eisen & Yungdrung Konchok, The Enlightened Gene: Biology, Buddhism, and the Convergence that Explains the World (2017)

Wendy Hasenkamp & Janna R. White (eds.), The Monastery and the Microscope: Conversations with the Dalai Lama on Mind, Mindfulness, and the Nature of Reality (2017)

Thupten Jinpa (ed.), Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist Classics, Volume 1: The Physical World (2017)

David L. McMahan & Erik Braun, Meditation, Buddhism, and Science (2017)

Matthieu Ricard & Wolf Singer, Beyond the Self: Conversations Between Buddhism and Neuroscience (2017)

Francisca Cho & Richard Squier, Religion and Science in the Mirror of Buddhism (2015)

Erik J. Hammerstrom, The Science of Chinese Buddhism: Early Twentieth-Century Engagements (2015)

Evan Thompson, Waking, Dreaming, Being: Self and Consciousness in Neuroscience, Meditation, and Philosophy (2014)

David P. Barash, Buddhist Biology: Ancient Eastern Wisdom Meets Modern Western Science (2013)

Dusana Dorjee, Mind, Brain and the Path to Happiness: A Guide to Buddhist Mind Training and the Neuroscience of Meditation (2013)

Owen Flanagan, The Bodhisattva's Brain: Buddhism Naturalized (2013)

B. Alan Wallace, Meditations of a Buddhist Skeptic: A Manifesto for the Mind Sciences and Contemplative Practice (2013)

Donald S. Lopez, Jr., The Scientific Buddha: His Short and Happy Life (2012)

Donald S. Lopez, Jr., Buddhism and Science: A Guide for the Perplexed (2011)

Vic Mansfield, Tibetan Buddhism and Modern Physics: Toward a Union of Love and Knowledge (2008)

B. Alan Wallace, Hidden Dimensions: The Unification of Physics and Consciousness (2007)

B. Alan Wallace, Contemplative Science: Where Buddhism and Neuroscience Converge (2006)

His Holiness the Dalai Lama, The New Physics and Cosmology: Dialogues with the Dalai Lama, ed. Arthur Zajonc & Zara Houshmand (2004)

B. Alan Wallace, Choosing Reality: A Buddhist View of Physics and the Mind (2003)

B. Alan Wallace (ed.), Buddhism and Science: Breaking New Ground (2003)

Richard J. Davidson & Anne Harrington (eds.), Visions of Compassion: Western Scientists and Tibetan Buddhists Examine Human Nature (2001)

Matthieu Ricard & Trinh Xuan Thuan, The Quantum and the Lotus: A Journey to the Frontiers Where Science and Buddhism Meet (2001)

Daniel Goleman & Robert A.F. Thurman (eds.), MindScience: An East-West Dialogue (1999)

Buddhadasa P. Kirthisinghe, Buddhism and Science (1999)

Robin Cooper, The Evolving Mind: Buddhism, Biology, and Consciousness (1996)

Joanna Macy, Mutual Causality in Buddhism and General Systems Theory: The Dharma of Natural Systems (1995)

Luang suriyabongs, buddhism in the light of modern scientific ideas, rev. ed. (1960).

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Essays are short pieces of writing that were published independently, for example on a blog.

For essays published in periodicals, see articles . For essays published in collections of various authors, see papers . For essays published as part of a book, see excerpts . For long essays, see booklets .

We, moderns but especially Americans, have a fundamental misunderstanding of cognitive development: we assume that higher-level functioning is always desired and so disparage and neglect fundamental cognitive skills.

Featured in the course, " Nibbāna: The Goal of Buddhist Practice "

Following is a summation of the extraordinary story, as explicated in the Aitken letters , of a Zen master teaching in America for some 35 years, who has been accused of sexual misconduct numerous times and yet was never called to task nor properly investigated.

Featured in the course, " An Introduction to Buddhist Philosophy "

Featured in the course, " Buddhism as a Religion "

I would say that the Nikāyas and Āgamas give us a “historical-realistic perspective” on the Buddha, while the Mahāyāna sūtras give us a “cosmic-metaphysical perspective.”

A few words on the sitting posture from a physiotherapist: what stretches to do and what pain to worry about.

In meditation one lets go of the complex world outside in order to reach the serene world inside. In all types of mysticism and in many traditions, this is known as the path to the pure and powerful mind.

A good sutta is one that inspires you to stop reading it.

… an overview of how bhikkhunis, or fully ordained nuns, came into being, disappeared and are now reappearing again

… some see in viññāṇa anidassana a kind of consciousness essentially equal to nibbāna . But there are many problems with this

Featured in the course, " The Buddha's Words "

Featured in the course, " The Buddha "

Featured in the course, " Buddhism 101 "

A tour of pre-modern, Buddhist bridges and a comment on the deeper roots of engaged Buddhism.

… he believed in nothing but himself. Actually, this is neither Buddhism nor Chan

Featured in the course, " Buddhist Ethics "

Bodhisattvas who genuinely take the bodhisattva vow of ethical discipline do nothing but act for the benefit of beings, either directly or indirectly, but unless one is skilful in benefiting these beings, no matter how much one does, it might not benefit beings, but could actually be a direct or indirect cause of harm.

… and now the geneticists say I may have 2% Neanderthal DNA, which presumably changes the status of Neanderthals, or the [definition] of species, or [possibly] both.

You might wish to drink the nectar of calm abiding…

What impresses me most about that encounter is how unimpressive it was.

… it may be America’s destiny not to make Buddhism perfect but to make it banal

Featured in the course, " The Practice of Buddhism "

Ajahn Geoff explains how the monastic institution works by creating an economy of gifts.

A short essay on what the path is to become a Theravada Monastic.

Within the framework of experience, there is no quantum enigma; the boxed cat, being outside of one’s experiential frame of reference, doesn’t exist. Once I observe the cat, then it exists

… the time for discovering Buddha directly, you must remain alone

Only a few have heard that “painted rice cakes do not satisfy hunger” and none have really understood what it meant. I’ve asked several of these skin bags about it and everybody was quite certain without even bothering to look into it.

…when these people meditate they’re awfully grim.

A beautiful sermon on the value of monasticism.

All beings by nature are Buddha, As ice by nature is water.

It’s interesting to walk through the graveyards of towns, and see that for the first few years after a person dies there may be a head stone, maybe someone remembers, but after twenty, thirty, or forty years, they could bulldoze the graves because the land is so valuable and plant somebody else in there. So even your head stone just crumbles to dust. All record of you living here is gone, because no one remembers who you were or what you did. Isn’t that beautiful? So why not do that right now? Bulldoze this idea of who you are

Just as I was talking about the unhindered Light, In rolled the morning fog

If a sensation of itchiness intervenes and the yogi desires to scratch because it is hard to bear, both the sensation and the desire to get rid of it should be noted, without immediately getting rid of the sensation by scratching.

We wouldn’t say “this is proof of reincarnation,” but I would say it’s strong evidence of something like it.

The inspiring (and frustrating) story of one modern, South Indian reformer who turned towards Buddhism as a refuge from exploitation.

… this paper aims for a philosophically more nuanced discussion of the case for and against eating locally. I assess, in turn, locavore arguments based on environmental preservation, human health, community support, agrarian values and political concerns

In the end money did come, from a most unexpected and unusual source

Mansplaining is not a universal flaw of the gender, just the intersection between overconfidence and cluelessness where some portion of that gender gets stuck.

There is no single “swiss-army knife” technique that works equally well at all times; instead, we must carefully examine our present conditions and determine what practice is most relevant.

Doctor, if only you could see how heaven pulls earth into its arms and how infinitely the heart expands to claim this world

I’m gripped by a somewhat peculiar trepidation as I tiptoe into the hallowed portals of the abhidhamma, my feet echoing too loudly in the cavernous austerity.

An intriguing (re)definition of religion, science, and culture.

Furtwängler’s Bach is no smug or mindless adaptation of Bach to the style of Wagner. It is a reaffirmation of the presence of Bach in Wagner and the simultaneous, reciprocal presence of Wagner in Bach.

Therapy assumes that someone is sick and that there is a cure, e.g., a personal solution. I am greatly offended that I or any other woman is thought to need therapy in the first place. Women are messed over, not messed up! We need to change the objective conditions, not adjust to them.

The precariousness of intimate speech adds to its power and the power of the reader, through whose agency the voice is encouraged in its urgent plea or confidence.

It is inescapable that, whatever the reading, according to the early texts the Buddha did not have “normal” genitals. And the only reading actually supported by a canonical text is that the Buddha was intersex, and his genitals looked like a woman’s.

During my first weeks with my teacher, Ajaan Fuang, I began to realize that he had psychic powers.

Kammaṭṭhāna meditation should be practised so as to reach Nibbāna , thereby escaping from all kinds of misery

A short prayer of confession and rededication to the path.

… while the Theravādins have preserved the clearest and best-understood early texts referring to the in-between state, their philosophical posture prevented them from investigating and describing this in any detail. For that we shall have to listen to the other schools, starting with the Puggalavādins and Sarvāstivādins, as passed down through the Chinese and Tibetan traditions.

Whereas the texts discussed in the first section generally argue for a stricter separation between these two domains, those in the second [Mahāyāna wave] strove to integrate medicine into the very heart of Buddhism.

An accused who was able to flee to the nearest monastery would be protected from such mob justice. Sanctuary would give the person an opportunity to explain himself and allow his accusers to calm down so the facts could be examined more objectively.

I swear, you will wake– & mistake these walls for skin.

Reverend Sirs, I would like the reverend bhikkhus and bhikkhunis—as well as the laymen and laywomen—to listen to these passages frequently and to ponder on them.

You will also need a writing implement and a blank sheet of paper, and you should find the darkest spot possible…

For the time being stand on top of the highest peak. For the time being proceed along the bottom of the deepest ocean. For the time being three heads and eight arms. For the time being an eight- or sixteen-foot body.

Human born. Faculties intact. Full of youth. To encounter the Dharma is marvelous!

A fascinating series of open letters between Ajahn Geoff and Bhikkhu Bodhi on the subject of “just war.”

To defend the innocent is a bright deed. To kill is a dark deed. To kill in defense of the innocent is a deed both bright and dark

Forget you. This is about waiting

A defense of abortion and IVF rights from the Buddhist perspective.

I give you back 1948.

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Buddhism: Religion or Philosophy Essay

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There is much controversy and debate about whether Buddhism is a religion or a philosophy. The first inclination is to say that Buddhism is both a religion and a philosophy. However, after further exploration into Buddhist beliefs, one can conclude that Buddhism can be classified as a religion. Buddhists believe in a higher power and life after death, they have a moral code of ethics, and they perform rituals; these things are the definition of established religion.

One of the biggest problems in defining religion is that there are multiple sources and definitions of religion. Some definitions support Buddhist views; some do not. A compilation of ofvarious definitions regarding religion include the belief in a higher deity, and the implementation of values, traditions, or rituals.

Religion also involves a code of ethics, a common group view of an object or a being, a belief in supernatural powers, and a desire to better oneself. When the definitions are generalized, more facets of Buddhist beliefs can relate to religion. The confusion classification often arises among individual understanding; everyone is entitled to their own personal interpretation of religion (Robinson).

Although Buddhists do not worship a supreme being, they do seek enlightenment. They strive to emulate a set example or a set belief system. Buddhists follow the historical path of enlightenment set by Buddha. His example is a guide for Buddhists personal behavior. Buddhists do not worship Buddha; they strive to be the type of person he once was. Even though Buddhism lacks specific or established rules, guidelines, and historical figures, it emphasizes the need for informed decisions and personal responsibility.

Religion is supposed to be a positive experience. Positive experiences form the basis of a Buddhist belief system. In religion, personal standards are what matter most. The biggest difference between the western idea of religion and Buddhism is that Buddhists believe that an individual is the best indicator of what is good for them personally (Buddhism Beliefs).

Buddhists believe in life after death. They believe that life is a continuous predestined circle, created to reach enlightenment. They strive for their personal best. After death, the Buddhist’s next life will be chosen as a reward or a punishment for their previous life’s actions. When an individual reaches their highest potential, they can reach Nirvana. Nirvana is similar to the Christian view of Heaven.

When an individual becomes the best they can, they will be rewarded with peace and happiness in their next life. Religion is characteristically based upon the belief of a reward system. One difference is that Buddhist’s strive for greater personal happiness, not necessarily the happiness or expectations of others. They believe that the way they live has consequences, good or bad. The consequences are karma; karma is their fate. Karma will be a determining factor in their next life (Buddhism Beliefs).

Buddhists believe in a code of ethics. Buddhists are taught to encourage peace, justice, and love. They are to delight in themselves and are required to treat others the same way. They are not supposed to harm any living thing. This is similar to the Christian idea of doing unto others.

There is a code of morality and a belief in non-violent behavior. Compassion is encouraged in all aspects of life. The rules of conduct, morality, and virtue are based upon the belief of equality. Every living thing is equal and should be treated so; Buddhists are not to harm others or themselves(Robinson).

As another religious similarity, Buddhists have the guidance of the Five Precepts;the content is similar to the Ten Commandments. These precepts are called the rules to live by; they include not killing or harming others, not stealing or lying, not misusing sex, and not consuming drugs or alcohol.

The difference between the two guidelines is that the precepts are meant to be a guide. The precepts are a suggestion for a better life, not an actual requirement of the religion. The precepts are strongly suggested, but there are situations where the details become clouded; people must still have the freedom to do what is right for them and those around them (Robinson).

Buddhism has been called contemplative wisdom.This is because meditation plays a large role in Buddhist beliefs. Meditation is a ritual, a defining factor of established religion. Meditation calms and clears the mind and allows for personal reflection and inspiration. As another religious comparison, meditation is similar to prayer.

Buddhists also pray, but meditation is a deeper look into their soul. Buddhists believe that the mind holds all power; it controls individual thoughts and actions. The mind effects karma, it can heal and strengthen. Self-exploration can lead to increased wisdom and compassion. Nothing in life happens by itself; life is faith (Lewis).

In reality, it does do not matter if Buddhism is labeled as a religion or a philosophy. What is important is that Buddhist followers can strengthen their faith and live their lives in a manner that pleases them. Buddhism has many characteristics of religion; there are enough similarities that it can rightfully be defined as a religion. The belief in a higher power, life after death, a moral code of ethics, and the performance of rituals all combine to create an established religious entity.

Works Cited

Buddhism Beliefs, 2008.

Lewis, G.R. “21 Shin Buddhist Beliefs.” Buddhist Beliefs, Practices and Experiences.

Robinson, B.A. “Buddhism: Comparison of Buddhism & Christianity.” Religious Tolerance.org. 2009. Web.

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Bibliography

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Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History Essays

Buddhism and buddhist art.

Portrait of Shun'oku Myōha

Unidentified artist Japanese

Fasting Buddha Shakyamuni

Reliquary in the Shape of a Stupa

Standing Buddha Offering Protection

Buddha Maitreya (Mile)

Buddha Maitreya (Mile) Altarpiece

Buddha Offering Protection

Head of Buddha

Buddha, probably Amitabha

Pensive bodhisattva

Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of Infinite Compassion

Buddha Shakyamuni or Akshobhya, the Buddha of the East

Enthroned Buddha Attended by the Bodhisattvas Avalokiteshvara and Vajrapani

The Bodhisattva Padmapani Lokeshvara

Buddha Vairocana (Dari)

Buddha Amoghasiddhi with Eight Bodhisattvas

Death of the Historical Buddha (Nehan-zu)

Cup Stand with the Eight Buddhist Treasures

Seated Buddha

Vidya Dehejia Department of Art History and Archaeology, Columbia University

February 2007

The fifth and fourth centuries B.C. were a time of worldwide intellectual ferment. It was an age of great thinkers, such as Socrates and Plato, Confucius and Laozi. In India , it was the age of the Buddha, after whose death a religion developed that eventually spread far beyond its homeland.

Siddhartha, the prince who was to become the Buddha, was born into the royal family of Kapilavastu, a small kingdom in the Himalayan foothills. His was a divine conception and miraculous birth, at which sages predicted that he would become a universal conqueror, either of the physical world or of men’s minds. It was the latter conquest that came to pass. Giving up the pleasures of the palace to seek the true purpose of life, Siddhartha first tried the path of severe asceticism, only to abandon it after six years as a futile exercise. He then sat down in yogic meditation beneath a bodhi tree until he achieved enlightenment. He was known henceforth as the Buddha , or “Enlightened One.”

His is the Middle Path, rejecting both luxury and asceticism. Buddhism proposes a life of good thoughts, good intentions, and straight living, all with the ultimate aim of achieving nirvana, release from earthly existence. For most beings, nirvana lies in the distant future, because Buddhism, like other faiths of India, believes in a cycle of rebirth. Humans are born many times on earth, each time with the opportunity to perfect themselves further. And it is their own karma—the sum total of deeds, good and bad—that determines the circumstances of a future birth. The Buddha spent the remaining forty years of his life preaching his faith and making vast numbers of converts. When he died, his body was cremated, as was customary in India.

The cremated relics of the Buddha were divided into several portions and placed in relic caskets that were interred within large hemispherical mounds known as stupas. Such stupas constitute the central monument of Buddhist monastic complexes. They attract pilgrims from far and wide who come to experience the unseen presence of the Buddha. Stupas are enclosed by a railing that provides a path for ritual circumambulation. The sacred area is entered through gateways at the four cardinal points.

In the first century B.C., India’s artists, who had worked in the perishable media of brick, wood, thatch, and bamboo, adopted stone on a very wide scale. Stone railings and gateways, covered with relief sculptures, were added to stupas. Favorite themes were events from the historic life of the Buddha, as well as from his previous lives, which were believed to number 550. The latter tales are called jatakas and often include popular legends adapted to Buddhist teachings.

In the earliest Buddhist art of India, the Buddha was not represented in human form. His presence was indicated instead by a sign, such as a pair of footprints, an empty seat, or an empty space beneath a parasol.

In the first century A.D., the human image of one Buddha came to dominate the artistic scene, and one of the first sites at which this occurred was along India’s northwestern frontier. In the area known as Gandhara , artistic elements from the Hellenistic world combined with the symbolism needed to express Indian Buddhism to create a unique style. Youthful Buddhas with hair arranged in wavy curls resemble Roman statues of Apollo; the monastic robe covering both shoulders and arranged in heavy classical folds is reminiscent of a Roman toga. There are also many representations of Siddhartha as a princely bejeweled figure prior to his renunciation of palace life. Buddhism evolved the concept of a Buddha of the Future, Maitreya, depicted in art both as a Buddha clad in a monastic robe and as a princely bodhisattva before enlightenment. Gandharan artists made use of both stone and stucco to produce such images, which were placed in nichelike shrines around the stupa of a monastery. Contemporaneously, the Kushan-period artists in Mathura, India, produced a different image of the Buddha. His body was expanded by sacred breath ( prana ), and his clinging monastic robe was draped to leave the right shoulder bare.

A third influential Buddha type evolved in Andhra Pradesh, in southern India, where images of substantial proportions, with serious, unsmiling faces, were clad in robes that created a heavy swag at the hem and revealed the left shoulder. These southern sites provided artistic inspiration for the Buddhist land of Sri Lanka, off the southern tip of India, and Sri Lankan monks regularly visited the area. A number of statues in this style have been found as well throughout Southeast Asia.

The succeeding Gupta period, from the fourth to the sixth century A.D., in northern India, sometimes referred to as a Golden Age, witnessed the creation of an “ideal image” of the Buddha. This was achieved by combining selected traits from the Gandharan region with the sensuous form created by Mathura artists. Gupta Buddhas have their hair arranged in tiny individual curls, and the robes have a network of strings to suggest drapery folds (as at Mathura) or are transparent sheaths (as at Sarnath). With their downward glance and spiritual aura, Gupta Buddhas became the model for future generations of artists, whether in post-Gupta and Pala India or in Nepal , Thailand , and Indonesia. Gupta metal images of the Buddha were also taken by pilgrims along the Silk Road to China .

Over the following centuries there emerged a new form of Buddhism that involved an expanding pantheon and more elaborate rituals. This later Buddhism introduced the concept of heavenly bodhisattvas as well as goddesses, of whom the most popular was Tara. In Nepal and Tibet , where exquisite metal images and paintings were produced, new divinities were created and portrayed in both sculpture and painted scrolls. Ferocious deities were introduced in the role of protectors of Buddhism and its believers. Images of a more esoteric nature , depicting god and goddess in embrace, were produced to demonstrate the metaphysical concept that salvation resulted from the union of wisdom (female) and compassion (male). Buddhism had traveled a long way from its simple beginnings.

Dehejia, Vidya. “Buddhism and Buddhist Art.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History . New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/budd/hd_budd.htm (February 2007)

Further Reading

Dehejia, Vidya. Indian Art . London: Phaidon, 1997.

Mitter, Partha. Indian Art . Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.

Additional Essays by Vidya Dehejia

• Dehejia, Vidya. “ Hinduism and Hindu Art .” (February 2007)
• Dehejia, Vidya. “ Recognizing the Gods .” (February 2007)
• Dehejia, Vidya. “ South Asian Art and Culture .” (February 2007)

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What The Buddha Taught

The Four Noble Truths: Essence of the Dhamma

What we call ‘ Buddhism ‘ today was known in ancient times as the ‘ Dhamma-Vinaya ‘. The word ‘Dhamma’ (in Sanskrit Dharma) has many meanings.

It encompasses the ultimate phenomena of which the universe is composed, but it also means truth or reality and is synonymous with the teaching of the Buddha (the Awakened One) .

Vinaya is the ethical code of the Buddha, the rules for monks and the moral advice to lay people.

The fact that the term Vinaya is placed next to Dhamma in the description of the teachings of the Buddha shows how important morality is on the path to liberation .

In essence, the Buddha taught that life is characterized by dukkha , which means unsatisfactoriness, suffering or stress.

Fortunately, he also taught that liberation from dukkha is possible for anyone who is willing to make the necessary effort.

The path to this liberation is what is meant by “Buddhism,” and those who walk on that path could call themselves “Buddhists.”

The term “Buddhism” is a bit misleading however. In fact, due to historical and cultural differences diverse Buddhist schools have emerged over the centuries which, while sharing a common core, may differ to a lesser or greater extent in their ethical, philosophical and practical dimensions.

But there is a common core that all Buddhist schools share.

The Four Noble Truths and Dependent Origination

This common core of all Buddhist schools is formed by the four Noble Truths ( cattāri ariyasaccāni ) and dependent origination ( paṭiccasamuppāda ).

The four Noble Truths are:

• The truth of the unsatisfactoriness ( dukkha sacca )
• The truth of the cause of the unsatisfactoriness ( dukkha-samudāya sacca )
• The truth of the cessation the unsatisfactoriness ( dukkha-nirodha sacca )
• The truth of the way leading to the cessation of unsatisfactoriness ( dukkha-nirodha-gamini-paṭipadā sacca )

Dependent origination is often summarized by the Buddha as (e.g. Ud 1:3 ):

“When this is, that is. From the arising of this comes the arising of that. When this isn’t, that isn’t. From the cessation of this comes the cessation of that.”

Because these two aspects of the doctrine are deeply intertwined, we will place dependent origination within the framework of the second Noble Truth, the cause of unsatisfactoriness.

Because of the interrelationship however, it is inevitable that terms such as ‘conditions’, ‘conditionality’, ‘arising and passing away’, etc. will occur earlier. In that case it is always a reference to the principle of dependent origination.

We will now continue with an in-depth look at the four Noble Truths.

The Five Aggregates

• The Three Characteristics of Existence
• Dependent Origination – the Chain of Causal Relations

Karma and Rebirth

The four stages of liberation.

• Wisdom: Right View and Right Thought
• Morality: Right Speech, Right Action and Right Livelihood
• Concentration: Right Effort , Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration

The Threefold Practice Combined: Morality, Concentration and Wisdom

The five aggregates are impermanent. What is impermanent is suffering. What is suffering is nonself. What is nonself should be seen as it really is with correct wisdom thus: ‘This is not mine, this I am not, this is not my self.’ When one sees this thus as it really is with correct wisdom, the mind becomes dispassionate and is liberated from the taints by nonclinging. Buddha, SN 22:45

The First Noble Truth: Unsatisfactoriness

In his first teaching the Buddha says ( SN 56:11 ):

“Now this, bhikkhus, is the noble truth of suffering: birth is suffering, aging is suffering, illness is suffering, death is suffering; union with what is displeasing is suffering; separation from what is pleasing is suffering; not to get what one wants is suffering; in brief, the five aggregates subject to clinging are suffering.”

Above the statment is made ‘in brief, the five aggregates subject to clinging are suffering’.

The five aggregates ( khandha’s ) are matter ( rūpa ), feeling ( vedanā ), perception ( saññā ), mental formations ( saṅkhāra’s ) and consciousness ( viññāṇa ).

At the time of the Buddha everything in the world was divided into these five groups. Another possible but perhaps slightly more cumbersome translation of khandha’s is the five ‘groups of existence’.

Matter includes the different kinds of elements. Feeling includes pleasant, unpleasant and neutral feeling. Perception includes the marking or labeling of an object. Mental formations include the intentions ( cetanā ) aimed at forms, sounds, smells, tastes, touch and mental objects. Consciousness includes eye-consciousness, ear-consciousness, nose-consciousness, tongue-consciousness, body-consciousness and mind-consciousness.

The Buddha almost always mentions the aggregates ( khandha’s ) as “aggregates subject to clinging” ( upādānakkhandha ).

The words of the Buddha are therefore far-reaching, for he says nothing less than that, as long as you cling to something in the world or yourself, there will be suffering.

To further clarify this we will take a closer look at the word dukkha.

dukkha is often translated as suffering. In everyday life, dukkha is most easily perceived as suffering, and that is why that translation appeals more to the imagination. Dukkha has a much broader meaning however, which threatens to be lost with ‘suffering’.

Actually dukkha could best be translated as ‘the fricion of the wheel on the wagon-axis’. We experience a similar friction during our life’s journey.

Things don’t go as desired, whether the wheel is stationary or rolling. Even if the wheel is temporarily released from friction as a result of an accidental movement on the road, the wheel will simply continue to cause friction one revolution later.

dukkha has three different forms which are inherently related to one another.

First there is dhukkha-dukkhata which means as much as suffering that is directly experienced.

This can be mental as well as physical. Physical pain, for example, means something as simple as bumping your toe or maybe on a deeper level the continuous discomfort of your body which makes you move all the time. Mental pain is, for example, grief or despair, perhaps caused by the loss of a loved one.

The second variation is viparimana dukkha or suffering as a result of change.

This is a bit more complicated than the first variation. It is not, as is often thought, the suffering that arises after something has changed. As said before, this is part of the first variation, e.g. suffering through loss.

This form of suffering is the suffering that is irrevocably present in a pleasurable experience itself, at the time of that pleasurable experience. The reason is that, because everything that arises will eventually pass away again, any form of happiness or pleasure will perish. It is this potential suffering arising from the conditioned nature of existence that is meant by this form of suffering.

The last form is saṅkhāra dukkha .

This refers to the suffering inherent in all conditioned states. Saṅkhāra is a difficult term to translate. It refers to formations in the sense that everything stems from conditions.

This form of dukkha is the inherent continuous underlying unsatisfaction witihn existence at the deepest level.

As long as there are conditions, existence continues, and so does the enldess wandering in samsāra .

Only Nibbāna is free from conditions, and only the one who has seen Nibbāna from one’s own personal experience can see through saṅkhāra dukkha completely. For us ordinary mortals this remains a concept up to that point.

The different forms of dukkha are therefore nothing but increasingly subtle levels on which dukkha can be seen.

First the immediately perceptible, then the realization that this also applies to pleasant moments, then that this is completely interwoven into existence as a totallity.

You may wonder why it is good to develop an increasing awareness of dukkha . Won’t that just increase your suffering? Isn’t it better to just ignore it, act as if nothing is wrong?

Ostrichism is always an option, of course, but that doesn’t change reality.

Those who are increasingly aware of the reality of dukkha can derive tremendous energy and motivation from this to make the effort necessary to put an end to it, because ending suffering is possible!

Just keep putting forth patient effort. Then sooner or later you will be able to step out of the endless circle of samsāra and attain the indescribable peace of Nibbāna .

Before we began our story of the life of the Buddha, we briefly touched upon samsāra. In a good overview of dukkha, a little more explanation about this term, which is usually misused in the West, is not to be missed. Samsāra can be translated as ‘the endless wandering’. First, a few words from the Buddha himself (SN 15:3 and 15:13):

“What do you think, monks: Which is greater, the tears you have shed while transmigrating & wandering this long, long time—crying & weeping from being joined with what is displeasing, being separated from what is pleasing—or the water in the four great oceans?

“This is the greater: the tears you have shed while transmigrating & wandering this long, long time—crying & weeping from being joined with what is displeasing, being separated from what is pleasing—not the water in the four great oceans.”

“What do you think, monks? Which is greater, the blood you have shed from having your heads cut off while transmigrating & wandering this long, long time, or the water in the four great oceans?”

“This is the greater: the blood you have shed from having your heads cut off while transmigrating & wandering this long, long time, not the water in the four great oceans.”

“Why is that? From an inconceivable beginning comes transmigration. A beginning point is not evident, though beings hindered by ignorance and fettered by craving are transmigrating & wandering on. Long have you thus experienced stress, experienced pain, experienced loss, swelling the cemeteries — enough to become disenchanted with all fabrications, enough to become dispassionate, enough to be released.”

Samsāra is the overarching problem. It denotes the endless aspect of dukkha.

There is no beginning, no matter how far back you look, and even death, the Buddha teaches, is not an end.

There is no heavenly existence, no matter how beautiful, that offers a permanent solution.

Sooner or later things change.

Ahba teaches that it is important to recognize that we are trapped in this continuous cycle of life and death, constantly subject to suffering, as a result of desire.

At first, this may be just a postulate to reflect on from time to time, but through sustained contemplation combined with experience and insight from concentration meditation, this cycle can become a source of energy and determination, culminating in the thought (AN 2:5):

“Gladly would we let the flesh & blood in our bodies dry up, leaving just the skin, tendons, & bones, but if we have not attained what can be reached through human firmness, human persistence, human striving, there will be no relaxing our persistence.”

Dukkha is inherent in all existence. Only the end of the conditioned, of becoming, i.e. Nibbāna, is permanent.

Three Characteristics of Existence

The Buddha taught three characteristics (ti-lakkhaṇa) that apply to all existence in Samsāra, namely impermanence (anicca), unsatisfactoriness (dukkha) and non-self or selflessness (anatta).

Nibbāna, on the other hand, is permanent and free from unsatisfactoriness, but even Nibbāna has no self, is selfless.

Thus, the attainment of Nibbāna is not the joining with a greater whole or merging a universal power or principle, with Brahma, the divine or something similar. For all these examples are based on a concept of ‘I’ or the merging of the ‘I’ with ‘something’.

The three characteristics are of great importance because direct experiential insight into one of these characteristics opens the gate to Nibbāna.

By understanding that everything is impermanent, unsatisfactory and without an identifiable self, the mind can be released and become completely free from desire, hatred and ignorance.

Impermanence (anicca) is often summed up in the Pali Canon with the expression ‘all that has arisen will pass away’.

So important is the rise and fall of things that the Buddha devoted his very last words to this (DN 16):

“Perishable, subject to change, are all formations. Aim relentlessly [for liberation]!”

And even after the death of the Buddha, Sakkha, king of the gods, emphasizes its importance with the words (DN 16):

“Conditions are impermanent, their nature is to rise and fall; having arisen, they cease; their stilling is true bliss.”

At first glance this seems a simple and in everyday life very recognizable statement in the sense of ‘everything comes to an end’, but the words of the Buddha have a more far-reaching meaning than that.

The rising and passing away happens from moment to moment, with such an enormous speed that to everyday perception these moment seem to be a continuous stream.

It can be compared to a movie in which the fast playback of separate images creates the illusion that there is actually movement.

It is the same for mental processes and matter. If concentration is high enough, insight and wisdom can be developed by looking at this instantaneous rise and fall.

With high concentration, you can see that the total of mental processes and matter (nāma-rūpa) is distorted.

It is not the simple observation that a thought comes and goes or the body changes from day to day, for that is a very gross observation.

It is about experiencing at the most subtle level that both the matter of the body and its environment and the mental continuum consist of separate moments that are in continuous flux.

And if impermanence is seen, the other two characteristics follow naturally.

If we cling to that which is impermanent with the misconception that it is permanent, dukkha arises, the second characteristic of existence that we have looked at before.

After the explanation of impermanence and the earlier explanation of dukkha, we will now dwell on non-self (anattā), one of the most crucial terms in Dhamma.

In our daily lives we constantly look at and experience ourselves and the world from an ‘I’ perspective. ‘I’ look into the world, ‘I’ want this, ‘I’ don’t want this, this is ‘mine’, etc.

And irrevocably the differentiation and comparison between ‘me’ and ‘the other’ follows. This discernment lies at the root of all the conflicts in the world.

The Buddha repeatedly indicates that the ‘I’ view is a wrong one, not in accordance with reality.

This wrong view is an illusion maintained by desire, hatred and ignorance, and can be seen through concentration and insight. This is what the Buddha taught (SN 22:95):

“Suppose a man of good sight would see the foam on the river Ganges as he rides past, and he would look at it and examine it thoroughly; then, having thoroughly examined it, he would see the foam as empty, volatile, and without substance. In exactly the same way, the monk looks at all material phenomena, feelings, perceptions, mental formations and states of consciousness – whether in the past, the present or the future, far away or near. And when he sees them, and examines them thoroughly, he sees them as empty, vacant, without a self.”

In the standard formula, the Buddha makes the connection with the other two characteristics.

If things are impermanent, then clinging causes suffering. If there were a self, then that self would be able to decide just to be happy and content, but we know from expirience that this is not possible.

We do not have full control over our happiness (or other aspects of consciousness for that matter), any more than we do over the change of our bodies. How, then, can you speak of a self?

We can’t, says the Buddha. Of course, this is just a cognitive theorem to get a first hairline crack in the image of the self through reasoning.

Another cognitive example is thinking about the reality of the concepts we tend use.

Take a house for example. What is a house? If we remove the roof, the doors and windows, is it still a house? Is the house the walls, the foundation, the land it stands on? Soon you will come to the conclusion that a house is nothing more than an agreement.

It is very important, of course, to be able to talk to each other, but it has no real existence, no intrinsic value.

The problem is that we still value these agreements, these concepts. We cling to them as if they do have value.

However, just as with impermanence and suffering, so non-self can ultimately be expirienced by seeing the rise and fall of nāma-rūpa.

Whoever sees this can only conclude that there is no permanent entity, that there are only separate moments that are conditioned and conditioning among themselves.

This conclusion is consistent with everyday life, for although at some point we cannot choose to feel a certain way, we can work on the conditions for a certain mental attribute to emerge more often and more solidly.

If we don’t make an effort, these will be unwholesome traits, nourished by desire, hatred and ignorance. If we do make an effort, we can slowly but surely, very patiently replace these with their positive counterparts and thus purify our mind and make it receptive to liberating insight.

It might be good to put some extra nuance to this in order to prevent people from thinking that such an insight comes abruptly.

After all, unnoticed, we have often created an opinion about the self.

That is, we think ‘I am this’ and can reason this out for ourselves. With the first hairline cracks that arise from meditation and contemplating non-self it is possible that this view diminishes in strength and stops at some point.

The next step is when we notice that we still have the ‘I am’ thought. We may no longer have a comprehensive view about it, but still experience our ‘personal’ existence as a real entity.

By continuing to develop concentration and insight, this too can be transcended at some point.

But even then we are not finished.

Even for those who have made the superhuman effort to transcend the ‘I am’ level, the perception ‘I’ remains. By this we mean that as soon as we open our eyes and look into the world we do this from an ‘I’.

Only at the very last step towards liberation can this ‘I’ be given up.

So do not think too easily about giving up the self, for it is not easy. And do not rejoice too much (maybe only a little) when you have taken a first small step, for the road is long and it takes a lot of patience and effort to really get to the deepest level through one’s own experience of the rising and passing away of phenomena, the suffering that arises by clinging to them,  and the non-self that is inherent in them, and thus put an end to the unsatisfactoriness of existence.

Desire is the root of suffering. Boeddha, MN 105

The Second Noble Truth: The Cause

We continue with a passage from the first teaching of the Buddha, this time about the second Noble Truth, the cause of unsatisfaction ( SN 56:11 ):

“Now this, bhikkhus, is the noble truth of the origin of suffering: it is this craving which leads to renewed existence, accompanied by delight and lust, seeking delight here and there; that is, craving for sensual pleasures, craving for existence, craving for extermination.”

The Buddha also taught ( DN 22 ):

“And where does this desire come from and take root? Wherever in the world there are pleasurable and enjoyable things, this desire arises and takes root. Eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and consciousness are pleasurable and enjoyable, that is where this desire comes from and takes root.”

“Visual objects, sounds, smells, taste, touch and mental objects are pleasurable and enjoyable, that’s where this desire comes from and takes root.”

“Consciousness, sensory impressions, feelings arising from the sensory impressions, perception, intention, craving, thinking and reflecting are pleasurable and enjoyable, that’s where this desire comes in and takes root.”

“This is the second noble truth.”

Desire in all its forms, nourished by ignorance about the true nature of things, is the great cause of all the suffering in the world.

Although we tend to think that desire always has something to do with wanting something, it is important to realize that desire also manifests itself in the form of not wanting something.

The most basic form of desire is sensory desire ( kāma-taṇhā ).

This is not just sensual or erotic desire, but all the forms of wanting or not wanting that arise from the contact our senses make with objects. Whether it is something beautiful or unpleasant we see, hear, smell, taste, feel or think about.

The latter deserves extra attention because Buddhism defines the mind and mental objects as the sixth sense in addition to the five senses we know in the west. Therefore, this desire also includes the desire arising from ideas, opinions, concepts and the like.

The longing for eternal existence ( bhava-taṇhā ), is more subtle than the above.

It is, in a superficial sense, the longing for an afterlife, rebirth or, for example, becoming one with Brahma.

In a deeper sense it is all the longing for ‘being’, right down to the most subtle level.

This last longing is only destroyed during the last step towards liberation, that is how persistent it is. It is an expression of an eternalistic view, the belief in an eternal and permanent self.

The last form of longing is the longing for self-destruction or not becoming, not being anymore ( vibhava-taṇhā ).

It stems from an annihilistic view, the belief that after death there is nothing left. This includes materialism as a view.

This longing can, for example, be a reason for suicide with the underlying idea that this is the way to put an end to suffering, now and in the future.

This form of desire should absolutely not be confused with the desire to put an end to rebirth in samsāra .

Indeed, the latter can only take place through the destruction of desire itself by seeing the true nature of things.

As long as there is desire, in whatever form, existence will continue, from moment to moment, from life to life.

Underlying this cyclic energy is the doctrine of dependent creation.

Dependent Origination – the Chain of Causal Relations

If we look at the cause of unsatisfactoriness, the second Noble Truth, we see that the Buddha mentions desire as the big problem.

Desire stems from ignorance. But how can this desire cause all the suffering and rebirth?

The answer is the teaching of dependent origination ( paṭiccasamuppāda ).

Together with the Four Noble Truths it forms the foundation of the Dhamma. Together they form the liberating insight the Buddha attained during the night of his enlightenment.

The Buddha emphasized this with the words ( MN 28 ):

“He who sees the Dhamma, sees dependent origination. He who sees dependent origination sees the Dhamma.”

We will start with a detour, namely by taking our everyday expirience as a starting point.

Both mind and matter become distorted during our perception.

In our daily experience, for example, seeing something, knowing what it is, forming an opinion about it, wanting or not wanting it all seem to happen at the same time. In fact, this seems to happen simultaneously with hearing, smelling, tasting, touch and thinking.

When looking at matter, a rock for example, you see a permanent form that perhaps only slowly changes through wind and weather.

But this is a distorted perception of mental processes and matter as a result of ignorance, the result of not (yet) being able to look sharp enough.

It is comparable to a movie. If you have ever been to the cinema, you know that you can get completely absorbed in the story, the beautiful images and the moving music.

In reality, however, the movie consists of seperate images that appear to our eye at a speed of at least 24 frames a second. That’s enough for the image to appear fluid. The sound is nothing more than loose tones that only form a whole when put together. And the story isn’t real but thought up, and we’re not really in the middle of it, although that’s what it feels like.

If you look at mental processes and matter with a high level of concentration, you can see that they consist of distinct moments that arise and perish.

These mental moments follow each other with an increadible speed, creating the illusion that perception is a continuous process.

These separate moments each have an object and it always concerns one of the six senses. The senses do not work all at the same time, you see or hear or taste or smell or feel or think, one after the other, never at the same time.

And matter is not as permanent as it appears but is in a continuous flux of rising and perishing as well.

With high concentration it can therefore be concluded from your own experience that our normal day consciousness completely distorts reality.

The process that appears to be continuous actually consists of separate fragments that arise and perish in every respect.

This can be called the ‘analysis’ of reality, the division of reality, of mental processes and matter, into the smallest possible building blocks.

What dependent orignation shows us is that these moments, although separate from each other, are nevertheless interconnected.

Dependent origination can therefore be seen as the ‘synthesis’, describing the mutual relationships of the separate building blocks.

This is an important point with which the Buddha distances himself from nihilism. It means that intentions and subsequent actions do have consequences.

If there would be seperate moments without interconnection, then any behavior could be justified.

This is the most important thing about dependent origination, the hope it gives. For it is the condtional relationship between moments that you can slowly but surely work with, with intention as the driving force of free will.

Before we go any further, let’s take a closer look at what the Buddha himself taught about dependent arising ( SN 12:1 ):

“And what, bhikkhus, is dependent origination? With ignorance ( avijjā ) as condition, volitional formations ( saṅkhāra’s ) come to be ; with volitional formations as condition, consciousness ( viññāṇa ); with consciousness as condition, mentality-materiality ( nāma-rūpa ); with name-and-form as condition, the six sense bases ( salāyatana ); with the six sense bases as condition, contact ( phassa ); with contact as condition, feeling ( vedanā ); with feeling as condition, craving (taṇhā); with craving as condition, clinging ( upādāna ); with clinging as condition, existence ( bhava ); with existence as condition, birth ( jāti ); with birth as condition, aging-and-death ( jaramaranam ), sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and despair come to be. Such is the origin of this whole mass of suffering. This, bhikkhus, is called dependent origination. But with the remainderless fading away and cessation of ignorance comes cessation of volitional formations;  with the cessation of volitional formations, cessation of consciousness; with the cessation of consciousness, cessation of name-and-form; with the cessation of name-and-form, cessation of the six sense bases; with the cessation of the six sense bases, cessation of contact; with the cessation of contact, cessation of feeling; with the cessation of feeling, cessation of craving; with the cessation of craving, cessation of clinging; with the cessation of clinging, cessation of existence; with the cessation of existence, cessation of birth; with the cessation of birth, aging-and-death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and despair cease. Such is the cessation of this whole mass of suffering.”

Here dependent originition is explained as the chain of causal relations.

It is a chain because it keeps us bound to samsāra . It is a circle from existence to existence driven by ignorance and desire.

To emphasize this, the twelve links of the chain are usually spread over three lives. The past, present and future life.

Ignorance and volitional formations are placed together in the previous life. They form the conditions for the arising of the present life, namely by serving as a condition for the linking of the results of consciousness, mentality-materiality, the six sensory bases, contact and feeling.

As a result of feeling we have craving, clinging and existence in this life, which in turn is a condition for the next life with birth, old age and death.

Although the three lives are often given as examples, this conditioning takes place from moment to moment in this present life as well. In daily life these conditions are not sequentially but intertwined.

To make it simpler just look at the chain in this life.

Because we are now ignorant of the true nature of mental processes and matter, we take the feeling that arises from the contact we make with objects through our senses very seriously.

As a result of this feeling, which can be pleasant, unpleasant or neutral, we want something or we don’t want it. Craving arises.

Driven by craving and clinging we perform good and bad deeds, we have wholesome and unwholsome mental states.

The attentive reader will have immediately seen that ignorance in the chain is followed by volitional-formations. Volitional-formations, which can also be translated as intention, is nothing less than karma (Pali: kamma ) which we will consider later.

Through craving and clinging we have new intentions and so we make new karma, and on and on the round goes.

If the previously given formula in the form of “when this is, that is” causes the suspicion that the Buddha teaches a random dependency then consider ( SN 12:20 ):

“And what, bhikkhus, is dependent origination? ‘With birth as condition, aging-and-death  comes to be ’: whether there is an arising of Tathagatas or no arising of Tathagatas, that element still persists, the stableness of the Dhamma, the fixed course of the Dhamma, specific conditionality. A Tathagata awakens to this and breaks through to it. Having done so, he explains it, teaches it, proclaims it, establishes it, discloses it, analyses it, elucidates it. And he says: ‘See! With birth as condition, bhikkhus, aging-and-death.’”

Note the words ‘specific conditionality’.

With this teaching the Buddha does not describe a general principle but an absolute law. A circular force that binds us.

It cannot be emphasized enough that the chain goes on and on, from moment to moment, day to day, year to year, from this life to the next.

Birth followed by sickness, old age and death, followed by birth, sickness old age and death, again and again and again.

Thus we are trapped in samsāra , we wander around, resulting in ‘sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and despair, the unsatisfaction of existence’.

Momentary temporary pleasure, though tempting, offers no solution, no safe haven.

The only way to step out of the circle is to see the true nature of things by committing oneself to the way indicated by the Buddha and thus completely destroying the chain.

This is the hopeful message of the Buddha.

Because these are specific conditions, an end is possible. When ignorance is seen as it really is, the light of the Dhamma shines and the chain falls apart.

Liberation is possible.

The doctrine of karma (in Pali: kamma ) and rebirth is often misunderstood.

You sometimes hear people say fatalistically “it’s my karma” or with the desire to give meaning to their suffering “it’s probably good for something”.

When talking about karma like this it seems like an inescapable destiny or a greater power at play, a judge who assigns karma to punish or teach.

The essence of rebirth is often buried under the image of reincarnation, the (according to the Buddha wrong) idea that there is a soul that migrates from one life to the next. Sometimes it is even said that a person has an old soul or one soul is older than another.

In addition, it is striking that Western Buddhist writers regularly reject the teachings of karma and rebirth altogether.

They argue that this teaching is not appropriate in the otherwise so logical and experience-based teaching of the Buddha, nor would it be necessary to think about this at all for progress on the path.

In the light of such images and claims, it is very important to reflect on the teachings of karma and rebirth.

First, let us consider the meaning of the word karma.

Contrary to how the word karma is often used in the West, it does not mean ‘consequence’. The Buddha said ( AN 6:63 ):

“Intention, I tell you, is kamma. Intending, one makes kamma by way of body, speech and mind.”

So Karma is much more of a driving force.

The Pali word for consequence or reaction is vipāka . Kamma-vipāka therefore means as much as action-reaction, but a nicer translation is ‘intention and its fruit’. Fruit because vipāka also has the meaning of ‘ripening’.

We know the expression “you reap what you sow”, this is a description of kamma-vipāka .

Just as the ripening of what is sown depends on water, sun and nutrients among other things, the ripening of karma also depends on several factors.

Karma is not always expressed proportionally in a neat one-to-one relationship with the result. There are different degrees, different strengths of karma that each interact with other karma from the near or distant past and it also depends on current effort.

For example, the fruit of karma can sometimes be stronger due to other supporting karma, weakened by opposing karma, or held back by destructive karma.

Furthermore, just as with the ripening of a fruit, which requires not only the growth of the fruit tree through sun, rain and nutrients, but also the right season for bearing the fruit, karma must have the right conditions for it to ripen.

For example, certain karma might not be able to cause results because the right conditions are not in place, so there is more time for other karma to be generated that might oppose it if it is unwholesome or strengthen if it is wholsome.

This is important because it gives just enough space to make spiritual growth possible.

In a strict one-to-one relationship, the inexhaustible karma from the infinite past would bring about infinite results in the future.

Precisely because this is not the case influence can be exerted by directing intention and liberation is possible.

Karma can be classified into ethical quality, i.e. wholesome karma or unwholesome karma.

Wholesome karma are the intentions that result in the expansion of consciousness, rebirth into higher worlds and ultimately Nibbāna .

Unwholesome karma are the intentions which result in the narrowing of consciousness, rebirth into lower worlds and turning away from Nibbāna .

When we speak of rebirth, two points are important. The first is that there is no “I”, no “person” or “soul” that passes from one existence to another.

Rebirth is the result of conditions.

An example that is often given to clarify this is the flame from a candle that is used to light another candle. The flame of the second candle is not the same, but also not completely different from that of the first candle. The flame of the second candle is there because of, depending on, the first candle.

A more modern example is the billiard ball that has its direction and strength as a result of the ball that touches it, which in turn gives strength and direction to the next ball. The balls are not the same, but their movement cannot be seen as separately from each other.

Likewise, rebirth is not a transmigration of the soul but the continuation of mind-moments based on conditions.

The teachings of kamma-vipāka and rebirth are deeply interwoven with paṭiccasamuppāda , dependent origination which we explained in the previous chapter.

When speeking about depend origination the Buddha said that it is equivalent to the Dhamma itself.

Therefore, the choice of some Western writers to completely ignore karma and rebirth appears to be a very selective personal choice that does not correspond to the words of the Buddha.

Of course, it is not necessary to believe blindly in karma and rebirth, but it is advisable to keep an open and inquiring mind.

Do not immediately reject karma but recognize the limitations of your own undeveloped mind and only dare to draw conclusions slowly, after gaining your own insights from the steady training of the mind through morality, concentration and wisdom.

Ahba repeats it over and over again, not only when speaking about things like karma, but also in other situations where something is beyond our Western frame of mind:

“Now your mind isn’t powerful enough, that’s why you don’t see it. If you develop concentration and your mind becomes more powerful, you’ll see it by itself.”

Just as a blue, red, or white lotus flower, though born in the water and grown up in the water, rises above the water and stands unsoiled by the water, even so, though born in the world and grown up in the world, I have overcome the world and dwell unsoiled by the world. Remember me, brahmin, as a Buddha. Buddha, AN 4:36

The Third Noble Truth: Liberation

Let us start again with a passage from the Buddha’s first teaching, this time about the third Noble Truth, the cessation of unsatisfactoriness ( SN 56:11 ):

“Now this, bhikkhus, is the noble truth of the cessation of suffering: it is the remainderless fading away and cessation of that same craving, the giving up and relinquishing of it, freedom from it, nonreliance on it.”

The liberation from the deepest unsatisfaction by the irrevocable destruction of desire, hatred and ignorance – the liberation from the endless wandering that is samsāra – that is what in Buddhism is called the attainment of Nibbāna .

Nibbāna can be translated as extinction, the extinction of the fire of desire, hatred and ignorance.

When one then considers that in ancient India the extinction of burning wood was also seen as a away of liberating the fire, it is not strange that Nibbāna means both extinction and liberation.

Nibbāna is the ultimate goal of the Dhamma and although, as said, it equals liberation and extinction of something, it is also a reality in itself, as the Buddha said:

“Of all Dhamma’s, whether conditioned or unconditioned, the most excellent Dhamma, the highest Dhamma, is Nibbāna .”

Dhamma in this context means ‘ultimate phenomenon’, an existing reality that can be expirienced as an object by the mind.

The Buddha himself never said what Nibbāna is.

If you had to explain to someone who has never eaten a mango what a mango tastes like, you would soon fall short.

You would make comparisons with what is known to describe the texture, the sweetness, the acidity, and so on. Still, the only way to find out what a mango tastes like is to taste it yourself.

If it is already almost impossible to explain the taste of a mango, a worldly object and to some extent comparable with things around us, to make comparisons then for the supernatural Nibbāna which lies beyond any experience is impossible.

What we do know is that Nibbāna , unlike all other phenomena in the world, is unconditioned (not conditioned and not creating new conditions) and permanent, but like everything else, Nibbāna is without a self ( anattā ).

It cannot be repeated enough, the attainment of Nibbāna is not the merging of a self with something higher, Nibbāna is anattā, without self.

If we look in the Pali Canon for what the Buddha does say about Nibbāna , we find for example ( AN 3:32 ):

“This is peaceful, this is sublime, that is, the stilling of all activities, the relinquishing of all acquisitions, the destruction of craving, dispassion, cessation, Nibbāna .”

Achieving the ultimate complete liberation from unsatisfactoriness ( dukkha ) is a gradual process consisting of four stages.

In the time of the Buddha there were people who had such good paramis (specific mental qualities) that after hearing a single verse from the Buddha they went through all the stages at once, but today, because of the decline of the mental state of humanity, we don’t have to harbor the illusion that this will happen to us, we wil just have to work really hard.

Before embarking on the path that leads to liberation, one is a anda-puttujana , which means as much as a blind world citizen.

When the blind world citizen listens to Dhamma, gets inspired and sets forth on the path by practicing morality, concentration and wisdom, he slowly but surely becomes a kalyāṇa-puttuja na, a noble world citizen, one who walks on the path to liberation.

After prolonged, patient and persistent effort, the path eventually leads to Nibbāna in four stages.

Until one reaches the first stage one is not safe, not sure. That one is safe and certain is the first characteristic of entering the four stages.

At the moment that Nibbāna is first taken as an object by the mind one reaches the first stage, that of stream-enterer ( Sotāpanna ).

This means that one enters the stream which leads irrevocably within seven lifetimes to complete liberation, and one is certain of a rebirth in the human realm or one of the higher realms. From that point on there wil be no more big suffering, like being reborn in a hell-world or the like.

This stage is characterized by an unshakeable faith in the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha resulting from one’s own experience, and the persistent inability to violate the moral precepts of the Buddha.

Through further and deeper experience with Nibbāna the next stage follows, that of the once-returner ( Sakadāgāmī ) who, as the name suggests, has only one future life remaining before complete liberation will be achieved. At this stage, desire and hatred are severely weakened.

Next comes the stage of the non-returner ( Anāgāmī ) who, after death, will be reborn in a very high realm where he or she resides until Nibbāna is attained. At this stage, desire and hatred are completely and permanently destroyed.

The final stage is that of the Arahant ( Arahat ), who in this very life has achieved complete liberation by eradicating at the root the very last mental corruptions, especially the extremely stubborn and very subtle view that there is an ‘I’.

After death, the Arahant enters into Parinibbāna , that is to say, ‘ Nibbāna without there being another body’.

Questions like where is this? Is this a place? Or in the same context, where is the Buddha? Are erroneous questions arising from the view that there is an ‘I’ going ‘somewhere’ when the very giving up of this is a defining characteristic of complete liberation.

From the above it can be concluded that it is of great importance to strive for the first stage, that of the stream-enterer, in order to reach the safe haven in which there will be no more great future suffering and liberation will follow with certainty.

In the words of Ahba:

“Now you are not sure about your future, but if you keep practicing, keep trying, then you will reach certainty, then there will be no more great suffering.”

Whatever is not yours, abandon it; when you have abandoned it, that will lead to your welfare and happiness for a long time. Buddha, MN 22

The Fourth Noble Truth: The Eightfold Path

The passage from the Buddha’s first teaching about the fourth Noble Truth, the way to liberation from unsatisfaction, reads ( SN 56:11 ):

“Now this, bhikkhus, is the noble truth of the way leading to the cessation of unsatisfactoriness: it is this Noble Eightfold Path; that is, right view ( sammā diṭṭhi ), right intention ( sammā saṅkappa ), right speech ( sammā vācā ), right action ( sammā kammanta ), right livelihood ( sammā ājīva ), right effort ( sammā vāyāma ), right mindfulness ( sammā sati ) and right concentration ( sammā samādhi ).”

This Eightfold Path can be summed up with the threefold practice of morality, concentration and wisdom.

Morality includes right speech, right action, and right living. Concentration includes right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration. And wisdom includes right view and right intention.

In order to provide a basis of the meaning of these path factors within the structure of the threefold practice through passages from the sutta’s . Then we will dwell on the threefold practisce as whole.

Wisdom: Right View and Right Intention

Let’s start with right view.

In summary, seeing through personal experience everything we have written about until now is right view, namely insight into the Four Noble Truths ( DN 22 ):

“Now what, monks, is right view ( sammā-diṭṭhi )? That, monks, which is knowledge about suffering knowledge about the origination of suffering knowledge about the cessation of suffering knowledge about the practice leading to the cessation of suffering. This, monks, is called right view.”

Of course, this includes dependent origination, karma and its fruit, knowing what is wholesome and what is unwholsome, the three characteristics and so on.

There are different stages of right view, or understanding.

The first stage is understanding by reading and studying of texts, the second stage is understandig by repeated contemplation and reflection of what has been read and studies and the third (most important) stage is the liberating understandig that can only arise through one’s own experience by the practice of morality and concentration.

About right intention, the second path-factor that is part of wisdom, the Buddha says (DN 22):

“Now what, monks, is right intention ( sammā-saṅkappa )? Intention on renunciation ( nekkhamma-saṅkappa ), intention free from ill-willl ( abyāpāda-saṅkappa ), intention on harmlesness ( avihiṃsā-saṅkappa ). This is right intention.”

Earlier we already discussed that when the Buddha speaks about intention he speaks about karma and that intentions are thus the driving force of free will. Correct intentions can be said to be those thoughts that focus our mind on what is pure.

We wrote more extensively about right intention in our text Daily Meditation: How to Keep It Up .

Morality: Right Speech, Right Act and Right Livelihood

It is always good to dwell longer on morality than on insight.

We are inclined to desire insight and to focus al our attention on it, forgetting that morality is an indispensable foundation that has much depth in everyday practice.

To start with correct speech in the words of the Buddha ( DN 22 ):

“And what is right speech? Abstaining from lying, from divisive speech, from abusive speech and from idle chatter: This is called right speech ( sammā vācā )?”

And further ( AN 10:176 ):

“And how is one made impure in four ways by verbal action? There is the case where a certain person engages in false speech. When he has been called to a town meeting, a group meeting, a gathering of his relatives, his guild, or of the royalty [i.e., a royal court proceeding], if he is asked as a witness, ‘Come & tell, good man, what you know’: If he doesn’t know, he says, ‘I know.’ If he does know, he says, ‘I don’t know.’ If he hasn’t seen, he says, ‘I have seen.’ If he has seen, he says, ‘I haven’t seen.’ Thus he consciously tells lies for his own sake, for the sake of another, or for the sake of a certain reward. He engages in divisive speech. What he has heard here he tells there to break those people apart from these people here. What he has heard there he tells here to break these people apart from those people there. Thus breaking apart those who are united and stirring up strife between those who have broken apart, he loves factionalism, delights in factionalism, enjoys factionalism, speaks things that create factionalism. He engages in abusive speech. He speaks words that are harsh, cutting, bitter to others, abusive of others, provoking anger and destroying concentration. He engages in idle chatter. He speaks out of season, speaks what isn’t factual, what isn’t in accordance with the goal, the Dhamma, & the Vinaya, words that are not worth treasuring. This is how one is made impure in four ways by verbal action.”

And also this short passage from the instruction to Rahula deserves attention ( MN 61 ):

I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying near Rajagaha, at the Bamboo Grove, the Squirrels’ Feeding Ground.

At that time Ven. Rahula was staying at the Mango Stone. Then the Blessed One, arising from his seclusion in the late afternoon, went to where Ven. Rahula was staying at the Mango Stone. Ven. Rahula saw him coming from afar and, on seeing him, set out a seat & water for washing the feet. The Blessed One sat down on the seat set out and, having sat down, washed his feet. Ven. Rahula, bowing down to the Blessed One, sat to one side.

Then the Blessed One, having left a little bit of water in the water dipper, said to Ven. Rahula, “Rahula, do you see this little bit of left-over water remaining in the water dipper?”

“Yes, sir.”

“That’s how little spiritual progress there is in anyone who feels no shame at telling a deliberate lie.” Having tossed away the little bit of left-over water, the Blessed One said to Ven. Rahula, “Rahula, do you see how this little bit of left-over water is tossed away?”

“Rahula, whatever spiritual progress there is in anyone who feels no shame at telling a deliberate lie is tossed away just like that.”Having turned the water dipper upside down, the Blessed One said to Ven. Rahula, “Rahula, do you see how this water dipper is turned upside down?”

“Rahula, whatever spiritual progress there is in anyone who feels no shame at telling a deliberate lie is turned upside down just like that.” Having turned the water dipper right-side up, the Blessed One said to Ven. Rahula, “Rahula, do you see how empty & hollow this water dipper is?”

“Rahula, whatever there is of a contemplative in anyone who feels no shame at telling a deliberate lie is empty & hollow just like that.”

The following is about right action ( DN 22 ):

“And what is right action? Abstaining from taking life, from stealing, & from illicit sex. This is called right action.”

“And how is one made impure in three ways by bodily action ( sammā sammatta )? There is the case where a certain person takes life, is a hunter, bloody-handed, devoted to killing & slaying, showing no mercy to living beings. He takes what is not given. He takes, in the manner of a thief, things in a village or a wilderness that belong to others and have not been given by them. He engages in sensual misconduct. He gets sexually involved with those who are protected by their mothers, their fathers, their brothers, their sisters, their relatives, or their Dhamma; those with husbands, those who entail punishments, or even those crowned with flowers by another man. This is how one is made impure in three ways by bodily action..”

Last but not least, right livelihood ( DN 22 ):

“And what is right livelihood? There is the case where a disciple of the noble ones, having abandoned dishonest livelihood, keeps his life going with right livelihood: This is called right livelihood.”

Because this piece of text remains rather cryptic, another passage for a more practical handhold (AN 5:177):

“Five professions should be avoided by the disciple: dealing in weapons, in living beings, in flesh, in intoxicants and in poison”

You can read more about five precepts that the Buddha advices for practitioners in order to develop morality in our text The 5 Precepts: Buddhism and Morality .

Concentration: Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration

The Buddha said about right effort ( DN 22 ):

“And what is right effort ( sammā vāyāma )? There is the case where a monk generates desire, endeavors, arouses persistence, upholds & exerts his intent for the sake of the non-arising of evil, unskillful qualities that have not yet arisen… for the sake of the abandoning of evil, unskillful qualities that have arisen… for the sake of the arising of skillful qualities that have not yet arisen… (and) for the maintenance, non-confusion, increase, plenitude, development, & culmination of skillful qualities that have arisen: This is called right effort.”

The words of the Buddha about right mindfulness are ( DN 22 ):

“And what is right mindfulness ( sammā sati )? There is the case where a monk remains focused on the body in & of itself — ardent, alert, & mindful — putting aside greed & distress with reference to the world. He remains focused on feelings in & of themselves… the mind in & of itself… mental qualities in & of themselves — ardent, alert, & mindful — putting aside greed & distress with reference to the world. This is called right mindfulness.”

Finally the words of the Buddha about correct concentration ( DN 22 ):

“And what is right concentration ( sammā samādhi )? There is the case where a monk — quite withdrawn from sensuality, withdrawn from unskillful (mental) qualities — enters & remains in the first jhana: rapture & pleasure born from withdrawal, accompanied by directed thought & evaluation. With the stilling of directed thoughts & evaluations, he enters & remains in the second jhana: rapture & pleasure born of composure, unification of awareness free from directed thought & evaluation — internal assurance. With the fading of rapture, he remains equanimous, mindful, & alert, and senses pleasure with the body. He enters & remains in the third jhana, of which the Noble Ones declare, ‘Equanimous & mindful, he has a pleasant abiding.’ With the abandoning of pleasure & pain — as with the earlier disappearance of elation & distress — he enters & remains in the fourth jhana: purity of equanimity & mindfulness, neither pleasure nor pain. This is called right concentration.”

We have written more about right effort in  Daily Meditation: How to Keep It Up , about right mindfulness according to the Buddha in Mindfulness According to the Buddha , and about the development of concentration in Samatha Meditation: Foundation for Insight .

As indicated, the Eightfold Path can be summarized in the threefold practice of morality, concentration and wisdom.

This summary is taught regularly by the Buddha, take for example this passage from the last days of the Buddha, the maha-Parinibbāna sutta (DN 16): .

“Such and such is virtue; such and such is concentration; and such and such is wisdom. Great becomes the fruit, great is the gain of concentration when it is fully developed by virtuous conduct; great becomes the fruit, great is the gain of wisdom when it is fully developed by concentration; utterly freed from the taints of lust, becoming, and ignorance is the mind that is fully developed in wisdom.”

The words “such and such is” in this sutta refer to everything that the Buddha has taught earlier in his life regarding morality, concentration and wisdom respectively.

For example, these teachings can be seen in their totality in the Samañaphala Sutta: The Fruits of the Contemplative Life .

However, the second part is so important that it has been written out, namely the great good of developing all three domains, and their interdependence.

Thus the path of morality, concentration and wisdom leads to liberation from all the unsatisfactoriness of existence.

Here ends our text about the Buddha and his Dhamma. May all beings be happy and take steps towards liberation!

Essay Curve

Essay on Buddhism – Examples, 10 Lines to 1200 Words

Essay on Buddhism: Buddhism is a spiritual tradition that originated in ancient India and has since spread across the globe, influencing millions of people with its teachings on compassion, mindfulness, and enlightenment. In this essay, we will explore the core beliefs and practices of Buddhism, as well as its impact on individuals and societies. From the life of the Buddha to the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path, we will delve into the rich history and philosophy of this profound and transformative faith.

Table of Contents

Buddhism Essay Writing Tips

1. Begin by introducing the topic of Buddhism and its significance in the world today. Explain that Buddhism is a major world religion that originated in India and has spread to many countries around the world.

2. Provide a brief overview of the history of Buddhism, including the life of Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism, and the development of the religion over time.

3. Discuss the key beliefs and teachings of Buddhism, such as the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path, and the concept of karma and rebirth. Explain how these teachings guide the lives of Buddhists and help them achieve enlightenment.

4. Explore the different branches of Buddhism, such as Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana, and explain how they differ in their beliefs and practices.

5. Discuss the role of meditation in Buddhism and how it is used as a tool for achieving mindfulness and inner peace. Explain how meditation is central to the practice of Buddhism and is used to cultivate wisdom and compassion.

6. Consider the ethical principles of Buddhism, such as the Five Precepts, which guide Buddhists in their moral conduct and interactions with others. Discuss how these principles help Buddhists live a virtuous and compassionate life.

7. Reflect on the impact of Buddhism on society and culture, both historically and in the present day. Discuss how Buddhism has influenced art, literature, philosophy, and social movements around the world.

8. Consider the challenges and criticisms that Buddhism faces in the modern world, such as accusations of sexism and discrimination within Buddhist institutions. Discuss how Buddhists are working to address these issues and promote greater inclusivity and equality.

9. Conclude by reflecting on the enduring appeal of Buddhism and its ability to offer solace, guidance, and wisdom to people of all backgrounds. Emphasize the importance of understanding and respecting different religious traditions in our increasingly diverse and interconnected world.

10. Remember to proofread and edit your essay for clarity, coherence, and grammar before submitting it for evaluation. Make sure to cite any sources you used in your research to give credit to the original authors and avoid plagiarism.

Essay on Buddhism in 10 Lines – Examples

1. Buddhism is a major world religion that originated in India around 2,500 years ago. 2. The founder of Buddhism, Siddhartha Gautama, is also known as the Buddha, which means “enlightened one.” 3. The central teachings of Buddhism revolve around the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path. 4. The Four Noble Truths are the truth of suffering, the truth of the cause of suffering, the truth of the end of suffering, and the truth of the path that leads to the end of suffering. 5. The Eightfold Path consists of eight principles that followers of Buddhism strive to follow in order to achieve enlightenment. 6. Buddhism emphasizes the importance of meditation, mindfulness, and ethical conduct in achieving spiritual growth. 7. There are three major branches of Buddhism: Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana. 8. Buddhism teaches the concept of karma, the belief that one’s actions have consequences in this life and future lives. 9. The ultimate goal of Buddhism is to reach Nirvana, a state of complete liberation from suffering and the cycle of rebirth. 10. Buddhism has spread to many parts of the world and has influenced art, culture, and philosophy in various societies.

Sample Essay on Buddhism in 100-180 Words

Buddhism is a major world religion that originated in ancient India and is based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, also known as the Buddha. The central tenets of Buddhism include the Four Noble Truths, which outline the nature of suffering and the path to liberation from it through the Eightfold Path.

Buddhism emphasizes the importance of mindfulness, compassion, and non-attachment to material possessions. Followers of Buddhism seek to achieve enlightenment, or Nirvana, by following the teachings of the Buddha and practicing meditation and mindfulness.

Buddhism has spread throughout Asia and beyond, with different schools and traditions emerging over time. Today, Buddhism is practiced by millions of people around the world and continues to be a source of spiritual guidance and inspiration for many.

Short Essay on Buddhism in 200-500 Words

Buddhism is a major world religion that originated in ancient India and has spread to many parts of the world. It is based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, who became known as the Buddha, which means “enlightened one.” The core teachings of Buddhism revolve around the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path, which provide a guide for living a moral and ethical life.

The Four Noble Truths are the foundation of Buddhist philosophy. They state that life is filled with suffering, that suffering is caused by desire and attachment, that suffering can be overcome, and that the way to overcome suffering is through following the Eightfold Path. These truths emphasize the impermanence of life and the importance of letting go of attachments in order to find true happiness and peace.

The Eightfold Path is a set of guidelines for ethical and moral living that are meant to help individuals achieve enlightenment. It includes principles such as right understanding, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration. By following these principles, Buddhists believe they can cultivate wisdom, ethical conduct, and mental discipline in order to reach a state of enlightenment.

One of the key concepts in Buddhism is the idea of karma, which is the belief that our actions have consequences that affect our future lives. Buddhists believe that by living a moral and ethical life, they can accumulate positive karma that will lead to a better rebirth in their next life. Conversely, negative actions will result in negative karma and a less favorable rebirth. This belief in karma encourages Buddhists to act with compassion and kindness towards others in order to create positive outcomes for themselves and others.

Another important aspect of Buddhism is the practice of meditation. Meditation is a way for individuals to quiet their minds, cultivate mindfulness, and develop insight into the nature of reality. By meditating regularly, Buddhists believe they can achieve a state of inner peace and clarity that allows them to see the world more clearly and live with greater compassion and wisdom.

In addition to these core teachings, Buddhism also encompasses a rich tradition of rituals, ceremonies, and practices that vary depending on the cultural and geographical context in which it is practiced. For example, in Tibetan Buddhism, practitioners may engage in elaborate rituals involving chanting, visualization, and the use of sacred objects such as prayer beads and mandalas. In Zen Buddhism, practitioners focus on the practice of sitting meditation (zazen) as a means of achieving enlightenment.

Overall, Buddhism offers a comprehensive and profound path to spiritual growth and self-discovery. Its teachings on suffering, impermanence, and the nature of reality provide valuable insights into the human condition and offer practical guidance for living a meaningful and fulfilling life. By following the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path, and engaging in practices such as meditation and mindfulness, individuals can cultivate wisdom, compassion, and inner peace that can lead to a deeper understanding of themselves and the world around them.

Essay on Buddhism in 1000-1500 Words

Buddhism is one of the oldest and most widespread religions in the world, with over 500 million followers worldwide. It originated in India around the 6th century BCE and was founded by Siddhartha Gautama, who later became known as the Buddha, or the Enlightened One. Buddhism is based on the teachings of the Buddha, which emphasize the importance of self-awareness, compassion, and the pursuit of enlightenment.

One of the key teachings of Buddhism is the Four Noble Truths, which are the foundation of the Buddha’s teachings. The first Noble Truth is the truth of suffering, which states that all beings experience suffering in their lives. The second Noble Truth is the truth of the cause of suffering, which is desire and attachment. The third Noble Truth is the truth of the cessation of suffering, which is achieved through the elimination of desire and attachment. The fourth Noble Truth is the truth of the path to the cessation of suffering, which is the Eightfold Path.

The Eightfold Path is a set of guidelines for living a meaningful and fulfilling life, which includes right understanding, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration. By following the Eightfold Path, Buddhists believe that they can achieve enlightenment and liberation from the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth known as samsara.

Another important concept in Buddhism is the idea of karma, which is the belief that our actions have consequences, both in this life and in future lives. According to the law of karma, good actions lead to positive outcomes, while bad actions lead to negative outcomes. By practicing good deeds and cultivating positive qualities such as compassion, generosity, and wisdom, Buddhists believe that they can create positive karma and improve their future lives.

One of the key practices in Buddhism is meditation, which is a way to cultivate mindfulness and awareness. By meditating regularly, Buddhists can develop a deeper understanding of themselves and the world around them, as well as cultivate inner peace and tranquility. There are many different forms of meditation in Buddhism, including mindfulness meditation, loving-kindness meditation, and insight meditation, all of which are aimed at developing different aspects of the mind and spirit.

In addition to meditation, Buddhists also engage in rituals and ceremonies as a way to honor the Buddha and his teachings. One of the most important rituals in Buddhism is the practice of making offerings to the Buddha, which is a way to show respect and gratitude for his teachings. Buddhists also participate in ceremonies such as chanting, reciting sutras, and performing rituals to purify the mind and spirit.

Buddhism is a diverse religion with many different schools and traditions, each with its own unique practices and beliefs. Some of the major schools of Buddhism include Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana, each of which has its own unique teachings and practices. Theravada Buddhism is the oldest and most traditional form of Buddhism, which emphasizes the importance of individual enlightenment and self-reliance. Mahayana Buddhism, on the other hand, is more focused on compassion and the idea of the bodhisattva, or enlightened being, who vows to help all beings achieve enlightenment. Vajrayana Buddhism is a form of Buddhism that is practiced mainly in Tibet and emphasizes the use of rituals, mantras, and visualizations to achieve enlightenment.

In conclusion, Buddhism is a rich and diverse religion that offers a path to enlightenment and liberation from suffering. Through the teachings of the Buddha, the practice of meditation, and the cultivation of positive qualities such as compassion and wisdom, Buddhists believe that they can achieve inner peace and happiness. With its emphasis on self-awareness, compassion, and the pursuit of enlightenment, Buddhism continues to be a source of inspiration and guidance for millions of people around the world.

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Buddhism - Free Essay Examples And Topic Ideas

Buddhism is a spiritual tradition and philosophy based on the teachings of Buddha. Essays could explore the basic tenets of Buddhism, its historical evolution, various schools of Buddhist thought, and its influence on culture and society. Comparisons between Buddhism and other religious or philosophical traditions could also provide a comprehensive understanding. A vast selection of complimentary essay illustrations pertaining to Buddhism you can find at Papersowl. You can use our samples for inspiration to write your own essay, research paper, or just to explore a new topic for yourself.

“4 C’s” in Buddhism

Every religion is different. They all do the things they do for different reasons. Buddhism is no exception to this. Catherine Albanese's definition of religion is "A system of symbols (creed, code, cults) and by means of which people (community) orient themselves in the world with reference to both ordinary and extra ordinary values, powers, and meanings". This definition is known as the "4 C's". The "creed" are the beliefs within the religion. The "Four Noble Truths" is the core […]

What are the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism?

According to The Register and InfoPlease, Buddhism has become one of the top five religions of the world while being one of the top three most practiced. Buddhism originated in eastern central Asia and it encompasses the idea of reaching enlightenment by following the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama. Buddhism has increased in popularity over the centuries because of its stance as not only a religion, but as a philosophy. Buddhism focuses on compassion and does not preach about reaching the […]

The Fictional Character Siddhartha and Buddha

Siddhartha is a fictional character created by Herman Hesse, but that name is also the name of Buddha before he became enlightened. Siddhartha was known as a rich, intelligent and good-looking man in town he lived in. Despite being seen as someone with intellectual prowess he left home because he was not content with what he was being taught. He believed the knowledge he was learning with his father was true and wise, yet he believed there was more for […]

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Buddhism – the Four Noble Truths

"Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional" –Buddha. Suffering is something that all human beings in society must endure over the course of their lifetime. It is perceived to be a negative part of life and something that cannot be avoided. However, has one ever dug deeper into the roots of suffering? Why do humans suffer? Is it something that can be further understood and better overcome? Buddhism explores the notion of suffering through its path to enlightenment by practicing such […]

An Analysis of Buddhism on the Hermann Hesse’s Siddh?rtha

Siddhartha is a novel written by Herman Hesse. It is about a young man named Siddhartha who is the son of Brahmin. Everyone thinks that Siddhartha should follow in his father's footsteps, but Siddhartha thinks otherwise. Siddhartha practices all of the religion rituals, but he is not satisfied. He feels something is missing. He wants to find enlightenment as a munk. So he goes on a journey with his friend named Govinda and does just that. One day a group […]

Religious Perspectives on Euthanasia

Death is one of the most important things that religions deal with. All faiths offer meaning and explanations for death and dying; all faiths try to find a place for death and dying within human experience. Most religions disapprove of euthanasia. Some of them absolutely forbid it. Virtually all religions state that those who become vulnerable through illness or disability deserve special care and protection and that proper end of life care is a much better thing than euthanasia. Religions […]

What is Buddhism?

Buddhism is one of the most privilege religions, spread throughout Vietnam, China, Japan and most parts of Asia. Buddhism has opened a door for many people to practice mindfulness especially the right way to meditate to relieve the stress and help them forgive that past or things that shouldn't be on their mind. Buddha has taught people many things that people can apply to daily life, and also bring a good environment to other people surrounding them. "There is no […]

Buddhism in Society

With approximately 400 million people practicing Buddhism, it is one of the largest religions in the world. Buddhism encompasses a variety of beliefs, traditions and spiritual practices that are attributed to the teachings of the Buddha. These teachings focus on spiritual personal development. The teachings and scriptures of Buddhism reiterate that violence is not a good thing and that being peaceful will lead to a better life on earth and a chance to reach nirvana. Even though Buddhism has a […]

The Four Noble Truths

The Four noble truths are one of the stories covered in the book "World views: Classic and contemporary readings" by Elizabeth Hair, Mike Krist, Richard Harnett and Roger West. The four noble truths are the teaching of the Buddhist path and is a summary of the awakening path. They are the key components that helps one understand Buddhism and the teachings of Buddha. It is often defined in four interdependent and logical steps. The truths have been defined differently by […]

Buddhism in my Life

The foundations of Buddhism are built upon the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path. The Four Noble Truths are a summary of the things that the Buddha witnessed and examined in his life, such as Dukkha or suffering, Dukkha is the result of tanha or selfish desire, the cure is get rid of tanha and to get rid of tanha you must follow the Eightfold Path. The Eightfold Path involves eight steps to reach nirvana, including right knowledge, right […]

Rituals in Buddhism

In Buddhism, rites and rituals expressed by human condition, including our relationships to others and to our spiritual life. As ways of being mindful, rites and rituals can bring a heightened awareness of the interpretation of life and humanity. Through both mental and physical trainings, rites and rituals set followers onto the passage toward their personal goals. Spreading world-wide in all directions and into numerous languages since around 2,500 years ago, Buddhism teachings have developed into many brunches. Among all […]

About Siddhartha Gautama

Buddha is not a name but a title which is a Sanskrit word for "Enlightened one." Siddhartha Gautama was born in 567 B.C.E. in the Himalayan region of Kapilavastu, Shakya which is now a modern Lumbini, Nepal. He born to the King Sudhodhana, who rule Kapilavastu in ancient Bharata Khanda, And Queen Maya. When he was born a Brahmin guru prophesize that young Gautama would either become an Emperor of Bharata Khanda or a very holy man, which worried his […]

The Religion of Buddhism

Siddhartha Gautama was numerous things. He was a ruler, an educator, the Buddha and later a divine being. He showed the religion of Buddhism. Moreover, he even affected Indian history until the end of time. Buddhism has spread to numerous nations including Thailand and Mongolia. The Buddha was conceived in sixth Century BCE. He was fundamentally secured up a castle for a large portion of his initial life in light of the fact that a prescience told that his family […]

Buddhism Meets Christanity

When you think of Christianity and Buddhism they both may appear very different from one another, but in fact, in some ways they really are very similar. The religions they have certain beliefs, and traditions that they value. Christianity and Buddhism are both the world's most significant and influential religions. A Spiritual Master that was seeking a path to salvation founded them both. They have a strong resemblance between Jesus and Buddha, with their lives and teachings. In both Christianity […]

Buddhism Vs Christianity

Religion is one of the most valued things in human society. It is what constitutes a country, group or society of individuals together. Although, in other cases it brings up problems and destroys unity between people. Religion is the belief that humans have in a divine entity which controls the Universe. In multiple religions, there is more than one of these godlike entities. Every religion has differences between each other, but the most part of them look for right morals […]

Christianity and Buddhism

Christianity originated during the 1st-century in Israel, starting with the birth of Jesus Christ, while Buddhism originated in the 6th-century India from the birth and life of Siddhartha, Buddha. While Buddhism and Christianity began with a single founder who sacrificed their lives for the suffering of humans, they did not share the same views on God. Christians put their faith in God while Buddhists ignored the widespread religious belief in a controlling higher power other religions adapted to. Built on […]

Buddha Stautes and Beliefs

I have always seen the buddha statue in places all across the world while travelling and I never had an understanding of what it really means. What's the culture and story behind it? The reason I picked this for my cultural artifact is because I've always seen the Himalayas in documentaries and have associated the Buddhist religion with that part of Asia, but without any real knowledge on the teachings. I want to have an understanding of the buddhism culture […]

Buddhism in Myanmar

Buddhism in Myanmar was very early spread into Myanmar. Buddhist missionaries from Gangetic India who reached Upper Burma through Bengal and Manipur. Others, amongst whom is Rhys Davids, supposed that Buddhism was introduced from China. It is not unlikely, however, that the Burmese obtained both their religion and their alphabet through the Talaings. The Burmese alphabet is almost the same as the Talaing, and the circular form of both strongly indicates the influence of the Singalese, or the Tamulic type […]

Christianity Vs Buddhism

Because I was brought up in an extremely strict Pentecostal church does not imply that I will be conceded everlasting life in the Kingdom of Paradise. In fact, it means that my curiosity for other religions has always been peaked. I have always been interested as to fundamental standards, actualities, and demonstrated sciences behind every one of them. I was instructed to place confidence in that which can't be seen, to never scrutinize the Lord or his reasonings, and to […]

Buddhism and Islam Worlds Apart

Buddhism and Islam are both major religions of the world. World religions are divided into two areas Eastern and Western. Buddhism is an eastern religion and Islam is a western religion. In this paper, I plan to showcase the similarities as well as differences in the two religions. Buddhism and Islam seem on the surface worlds apart. While some major differences do exist the core teachings and beliefs are essentially the same. Both Buddhism and Islam have dealt with stereotypes […]

Buddhism in Thailand

Introduction Religion system is one of the fundamental parts of any society, which is the practice of that connected to supernatural beings and forces. This practice modifies human's attitudes and beliefs that fulfills several social and psychological needs. Buddhism, one of the most worldwide popular religion, is a religious tradition that emphasizes spiritual growth at a personal level and focusses on the study of the nature of life. History of Buddhism can be traced back to the 6th century BC […]

Standing Buddha

The Standing Buddha statue, held in the MET museum as a gift from Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Foundation in 1993, is one of many renditions of the Buddha (MET). The Buddha is a human man who experienced enlightenment and spread the message through sermons and travel for years (Richie). This figure is the originator of the Buddhist religion, and his sculptures have a long history and significance to spiritual practice that continues into today. The statue is bronze with […]

History and Comparison of Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity and Islam

What is Religion? For a long time, people has been asking question about it, but no one has corrected answer whether one religion is right, or another religion is wrong. Every person explains religion in different way. Religion is a cultural system for group of people who have shared same beliefs. As any person can remember religion has been part of history for long time. There are nearly 10,000 religious where people are born into or they can choose which […]

The Rising of Christianity and the Fall of Buddhism

Christianity is considered to be the world's largest religion today, there are more than two billion Christians worldwide. Christianity began to grow in the 1st-century from a Jewish following. Christianity has been spread and adopted throughout the nation and it became and still is a successful spiritual mission that is changing people's lives across the globe. The Christian belief is centered around the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Christians are monotheistic, which means that they only believe in […]

How Buddhism Agrees with Science

Compatibility is defined as the degree of agreement between two separate ideas. In relation to the Dalai Lama's discussions of modern physics and evolutionary biology as well as the article "Cosmology and Meditation" by Rupert Gethin, we can find several similarities and differences between Buddhism and scientific realism. Also, it would be appropriate to argue the compatibility between these two like-minded concepts. Buddhism is very simple in its teachings. The essence of this school of thought promotes a way of […]

Navigating the Silence: Unraveling the Meaning of Wu Wei in Daoism and Zen Buddhism

In the tapestry of Eastern philosophies, the concept of Wu Wei emerges as a delicate thread, weaving its way through the rich landscapes of Daoism and Zen Buddhism. Translated as "non-action" or "effortless action," Wu Wei encapsulates a profound philosophy that transcends mere passivity, inviting practitioners to embrace a dynamic stillness that harmonizes with the ebb and flow of existence. In Daoism, Wu Wei is a cornerstone of the Dao De Jing, the foundational text attributed to Laozi. It encapsulates […]

Representation of Religion in Asian Buddha Statues

Artistic concepts are broad. Art may be interpreted either literally or symbolically depending on a person's insights. It goes a long way in the depiction of reality or imaginary insinuation, be it a person or a place. However, the study of artistic features gives more profound meaning and relates each work of art to the subjects under study for example religion. Eliade Mircea once said that the Buddha's iconography had been changed to spiritual existence from human nature[1]. Considering the […]

Buddhism’s Theological Spectrum: Beyond Monotheism and Polytheism

The intricate tapestry of religious beliefs across the globe encompasses a vast array of gods, deities, spirits, and cosmic entities. In the Western world, there's often a simplification: religions are neatly categorized into "monotheistic" or "polytheistic." However, when we turn our gaze to the philosophical expanse of Buddhism, the attempt to pigeonhole it into these binary terms becomes a complex endeavor. So, is Buddhism monotheistic or polytheistic? Let's delve into this question, unraveling the layers of Buddhist beliefs and practices. […]

Essay about the Matrix and Buddhism

The enemy in The Matrix is ignorance, a trait that is embedded in everyone and is difficult to overcome. Although the he violence and bullets within the movie is the opposite of what buddhist believe in - they believe in peace and do not believe in violence, it can be viewed metaphorically in which it is used to show the struggle to overcome and defeat one’s ignorance and illusion of reality. However, although there are different levels of enlightenment or […]

Development of Buddhism under Siddhartha Gautama and Ashoka

The pioneer, innovator, and/or originator of Buddhism is said to be Siddhartha Gautama. Siddhartha was born into a wealthy royal family in Nepal, India. He lived a secluded life away from the world’s sadness, poverty, and pain. Even though his life did not have these particular challenges, he left home at 29 to explore. At that time, India was in an intellectual decay of the old Brahmanic orthodoxy. There was a strong skepticism and moral vacuum which was being filled […]

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Essay on Gautam Buddha

An Introduction

Gautam Buddha is popularly called Lord Buddha or The Buddha. He was a great and religious leader of ancient India. He is regarded as the founder of Buddhism, which is one of the most followed religions in the world today.

The followers of Buddha are now called Buddhists which means the enlightened beings, the ones who have rediscovered the path to freedom starting from ignorance, craving to the cycle of rebirth and suffering. Buddha himself propagated it for nearly 45 years.

His teachings are based on his insights of suffering and dissatisfaction ending in a state called Nirvana.

Gautam Buddha is considered to be one of the greatest religious preachers in the world. He was the preacher of peace and harmony. In this Gautam Buddha essay, you will find one long and one short piece about the epic religious guru followed by many. Studying this piece will help you learn who Gautama Buddha was and what made him choose the path of spirituality. The long and short essay on Gautam Buddha will help students of Class 5 and above to write one on their own. These essays are specially designed so that you can have all the needed information about Gautam Buddha. This essay will help you to understand the life of Gautam Buddha in minimum words. Basically in a few words, this essay gives you a brief detail about Buddha.

Gautam Buddha, the messenger of peace, equality, and fraternity, was born in Lumbini in the 6th Century BC, the Terai region of Nepal. His real name was Siddhartha Gautam. He belonged to the royal family of Kapilavastu. His father was Suddhodhana, the ruler. Maya Devi, Gautam’s mother, died soon after giving birth to him. He was a thoughtful child with a broad mind. He was very disciplined and liked to question contemporary concepts to understand and gather more knowledge.

He wanted to devote his life to spirituality and meditation. This was what his father did not like about him. He went against his father’s wishes to find spirituality. His father was worried that someday, Gautam will leave his family to pursue his wishes. For this, Suddhodhana always guarded his son against the harshness surrounding him. He never let his son leave the palace anytime. When he was 18 years of age, Gautam was married to Yashodhara, a princess with magnificent beauty. They had a son named ‘Rahul’. Even though Siddhartha’s family was complete and happy, he did not find peace. His mind always urged him intending to find the truth beyond the walls.

As per the Buddhist manuscripts, when Siddhartha saw an old man, an ailing person, and a corpse, he understood that nothing in this material world is permanent. All the pleasures he enjoyed were temporary and someday, he had to leave them behind. His mind startled from the realization. He left his family, the throne, and the kingdom behind and started roaming in the forests and places aimlessly. All he wanted was to find the real truth and purpose of life. In his journey, he met with scholars and saints but nobody was able to quench his thirst for truth.

He then commenced meditation with the aim to suffer and then realized the ultimate truth sitting under a huge banyan tree after 6 years. It was in Bodh Gaya in Bihar. He turned 35 and was enlightened. His wisdom knew no boundaries. The tree was named Bodhi Vriksha. He was very satisfied with his newly found knowledge and gave his first speech on enlightenment in Sarnath. He found the ultimate truth behind the sorrows and troubles people face in the world. It was all due to their desires and attraction to earthly things.

A couple of centuries after he died, he came to be known as the Buddha which means the enlightened one. All the teachings of Buddha were compiled in the Vinaya. His teachings were passed to the Indo-Aryan community through oral traditions.

In his lecture, he mentioned the Noble Eightfold Path to conquer desires and attain full control. The first 3 paths described how one can gain physical control. The next 2 paths showed us how to achieve the fullest mental control. The last 2 paths were described to help people attain the highest level of intellect. These paths are described as Right Understanding, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration synchronously.

The title “Buddha” was used by several ancient groups and for each group, it had its meaning. The word Buddhism refers to a living being who has got enlightened and just got up from his phase of ignorance. Buddhism believes that there have been Buddhas in the past before Gautam Buddha and there will be Buddhas in the future also. The Buddhists celebrate the life of Gautam Buddha starting from his birth to his enlightenment and passage into Nirvana stage as well.

In his life, Gautam Buddha had done a lot of spiritual things and lived his life by going through so much. Each suffering and each liberation of his has turned into teachings.

Some of them are explained below:

Finding Liberation: the ultimate motive of our soul is to find liberation.

The Noble truth of Life: for salvation, you need to know about all the four Noble truths of your life.

Suffering is not a Joke:   each suffering leads you to experience a new you.

There are noble eightfold paths that you need to follow.

Death is final, the one who has taken birth will die surely and everything in life is impermeable, you are not going to have anything that will be permanent so focus on salvation rather than pleasing others.

He preached that only sacrifice cannot make a person happy and free from all the bonds he has in the world. He also defined the final goal as Nirvana. Even to this day, his preaching finds meaning and can be related to our sorrows. According to his teachings, the right way of thinking, acting, living, concentrating, etc can lead to such a state. He never asked anyone to sacrifice or pray all day to achieve such a state. This is not the way to gain such a mindful state.

He didn’t mention any god or an almighty controlling our fate. His teachings are the best philosophical thoughts one can follow. Gautam Buddha was his new name after gaining Nirvana and knowing the truth. He was sure that no religion can lead to Nirvana. Only the Noble Eightfold Path can be the way to achieve such a state. He breathed last in 483 BC in Kushinagar, now situated in Uttar Pradesh and his life became an inspiration.

Even after being in a happy family with a loving wife and son, he left his royal kingdom in search of the truth. No one was able to satisfy him with knowledge. He then attained his enlightenment under a banyan tree in Bodh Gaya. He described the Noble Eightfold Path that everyone should follow to get rid of sorrow and unhappiness. He died in 483 BC but his preaching is found to be still relevant to this date. This tells us how Siddhartha became Gautam Buddha. It also tells us about his valuable preaching and shows us the way to achieve Nirvana.

FAQs on Essay on Gautam Buddha

1. What made Siddhartha realize pleasures are Temporary?

When he first saw an ailing person, a corpse, and an old man, he realized worldly pleasures are temporary. He realized that all the pleasures that this world is running behind are fake. Nothing will stay forever, even the ones whom you love the most will leave you sooner or later, so you should not run behind these material pleasures. Focus on attaining salvation. Everyone who has taken birth will definitely leave one day, the thing that you have today will not be there tomorrow. There is only one soul for yourself. The body or the material things that you are proud of today will leave you tomorrow. Everything is not going to be the same.

2. What did he do to achieve Knowledge and Peace?

Gautam Buddha was more focused on achieving salvation, he wanted to know the truth of life. He wanted to have knowledge of all the things and peace along with Moksha. To receive knowledge and peace, Gautam Buddha left his home and his family behind. He wandered here and there aimlessly just to find peace in his life. Not only this, he talked with many scholars and saints so that he could receive the knowledge of everything that he was searching for. 

3. What did he Preach?

Gautam Buddha was the preacher of peace. In this essay, we are introduced to the preaching of Gautam Buddha. He has taught all about how to receive salvation and attain Nirvana without following any particular religion. Some of his preachings are :

Have respect for your life.

No lying and respect for honesty.

No sexual misconduct and at least you should respect the people of the same community and respect women as well. 

The path of sufferings, truth of causes; these factors will create a path of salvation for you. You need to believe in the reality of life and then move towards attaining the ultimate.

4. Does Gautam Buddha believe in God?

Buddhists actually don't believe in any dainty figure or God but according to them, there are some supernatural powers present in this universe that can help people or they can even encourage people to move toward enlightenment. Gautam Buddha, on seeing people dying and crying, realized that human life is nothing but suffering and all you need to do is get over this materialistic world and lead your life towards attaining salvation. Nothing is permanent nor even this body, so enlighten yourself towards the path of salvation.

Friday essay: how the West discovered the Buddha

Emeritus Professor in the History of Religious Thought, The University of Queensland

Disclosure statement

Philip C. Almond does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

University of Queensland provides funding as a member of The Conversation AU.

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Buddhism is the third largest (and fastest growing) religion in Australia with approximately half a million adherents .

The celebration of the Buddha’s birthday here (on or around May 15) has become a major cultural event and the Buddhist doctrine of “mindfulness” is now a part of mainstream culture . But how and when did the West discover the Buddha?

The facts about the Buddha’s life are opaque but we can assume he was born no earlier than 500 BCE and died no later than 400 BCE. He was said to be the son of an Indian king, so distressed by the sight of suffering that he spent years searching for the answer to it, finally attaining enlightenment while sitting under a bodhi (sacred fig) tree.

The Buddha’s family name was Gotama (in the Pali language) or Gautama (in Sanskrit). Although it does not appear in the earliest traditions, his personal name was later said to be Siddhartha, which means “one who has achieved his purpose”. (This name was retrofitted by later believers.)

According to Buddhist tradition, the Buddha spent 45 years teaching the path to enlightenment, gathering followers, and creating the Buddhist monastic community. According to the legend, upon his death at the age of 80, he entered Nirvana.

In India during the 3rd century BCE, the emperor Ashoka first promoted Buddhism. From this time on, it spread south, flourishing in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia, then moving through Central Asia including Tibet, and on to China, Korea, and Japan. Ironically, the appeal of Buddhism declined in India in succeeding centuries. It was virtually extinct there by the 13th century.

In that same century, the Venetian merchant Marco Polo gave the West its first account of Buddha’s life. Between 1292 and 1295, journeying home from China, Marco Polo arrived in Sri Lanka. There he heard the story of the life of Sergamoni Borcan whom we now know as the Buddha.

Marco wrote about Sergamoni Borcan, a name he had heard at the court of Kublai Khan, in his book The Description of the World . This was the Mongolian name for the Buddha: Sergamoni for Shakyamuni – the sage of the Shakya clan, and Borcan for Buddha – the “divine” one. (He was also known as Bhagavan – the Blessed One, or Lord.)

According to Marco, Sergamoni Borcan was the son of a great king who wished to renounce the world. The king moved Sergamoni into a palace, tempting him with the sensual delights of 30,000 maidens.

But Sergamoni was unmoved in his resolve. When his father allowed him to leave the palace for the first time, he encountered a dead man, and an infirm old man. He returned to the palace frightened and astonished , “saying to himself that he would not remain in this bad world but would go seeking the one who had made it and did not die.”

Sergamoni then left the palace permanently and lived the abstinent life of a celibate recluse. “Certainly,” Marco declared , “had he been Christian, he would have been a great saint with our Lord Jesus Christ”.

Read more: How the Buddha became a Christian saint

Jesuits and authors

Little more was known about the Buddha for the next 300 years in the West. Nevertheless, from the mid-16th century, information accumulated, primarily as a result of the Jesuit missions to Japan and China.

By 1700, it was increasingly assumed by those familiar with the Jesuit missions that the Buddha was the common link in an array of religious practitioners they were encountering.

For example, Louis le Comte (1655-1728), writing his memoir of his travels through China on a mission inspired by the Sun King Louis XIV declared, “all the Indies have been poisoned with his pernicious Doctrine. Those of Siam call them Talapoins, the Tartars call them Lamas or Lama sem, the Japoners Bonzes, and the Chinese Hocham.”

The writings of the English author Daniel Defoe (c.1660-1731) show what the educated English reader might have known of the Buddha in the early 18th century.

In his Dictionary of all Religions (1704), Defoe tells us of an idol of Fe (the Buddha) on an island near the Red Sea, said to represent an atheistic philosopher who lived 500 years before Confucius, that is, around 1,000 BCE.

This idol was carried to China

with Instructions concerning the Worship paid to it, and so introduced a Superstition, that in several things abolish’d the Maxims of Confucius, who always condemned Atheism and idolatry.

A quite different Buddha was to be encountered by the British in the later 1700s as they achieved economic, military, and political dominance in India. Initially, the British were reliant on their Hindu informants. They told them the Buddha was an incarnation of their god Vishnu who had come to lead the people astray with false teaching.

More confusion reigned. It was often argued in the West that there were two Buddhas – one whom Hindus believed to be the ninth incarnation of Vishnu (appearing around 1000 BCE), the other (Gautama) appearing around 1000 years later.

And yet more confusion. For there was a tradition in the West since the mid-17th century that the Buddha came from Africa.

Well into the 19th century, it was thought that representations of the Buddha, particularly in India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, depicted with woolly hair and thick “Ethiopian lips” (as one writer put it ) were evidence of his African origins.

Such observers were mistaking traditional representations of the Buddha with his hair tightly coiled into tiny cones as a sign of his African origins.

First use of the term ‘Buddhism’

Two major turning points eventually sorted out these confusions. The first was the invention of the term “Buddhism”.

Its first use in English was in 1800 in a translation of a work entitled Lectures on History by Count Constantine de Volney . A politician and orientalist, de Volney coined the term “Buddhism” to identify the pan-Asian religion that he believed was based on a mythical figure called “Buddha”.

Only then did Buddhism begin to emerge from the array of “heathen idolatries” with which it had been identified, becoming identified as a religion, alongside Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.

The second turning point was the arrival in the West of Buddhist texts. The decade from 1824 was decisive. For centuries, not a single original document of the Buddhist religion had been accessible to the scholars of Europe.

But in the space of ten years, four complete Buddhist literatures were discovered – in Sanskrit, Tibetan, Mongolian, and Pāli. Collections from Japan and China were to follow.

With the Buddhist texts in front of them, Western scholars were able to determine Buddhism was a tradition that had arisen in India around 400-500 years BCE.

And among these texts was the Lalitavistara (written around the 4th century CE), which contained a biography of the Buddha. For the first time Westerners came to read an account of his life.

The Lalitavistara and other biographies depicted a highly magical and enchanted world – of the Buddha’s heavenly life before his birth, of his conception via an elephant, of his mother’s transparent womb, of his miraculous powers at his birth, of the many miracles he performed, of gods, demons, and water spirits.

But within these enchanted texts, there remained the story of the life of the Buddha with which we are familiar. Of the Indian King Shuddhodana who, fearing Gautama would reject the world, keeps his son sheltered from any sights of suffering. When Gautama finally leaves the palace he encounters an old man, a diseased man, and a dead man. He then decides to search for the answer to suffering.

For the Buddha, the cause of suffering lies in attachment to the things of the world. The path to liberation from it thus lies in the rejection of attachment.

The Buddha’s way to the cessation of attachment was eventually summarised in the Holy Eightfold Path – right views, right resolve, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right meditation. The outcome of this path was the attainment of Nirvana when the self at the time of death escaped from rebirth and was extinguished like the flame of a candle.

This selfless Buddha, who was said to have died in the groves of trees near the Indian town of Kusinagara , was the one the West soon came to admire. As the Unitarian minister Richard Armstrong, put it in 1870,

his personality has endured for centuries, and is as fresh and beautiful as now when displayed to European eyes, as when Siddharta [sic] himself breathed his dying breath in the shades of (the forest of) Kusinagara.

History versus legend

But is the Buddha of the legend also the Buddha of history? That the tradition we call Buddhism was founded by an Indian sage named Gautama around the 5th century BCE is very likely.

That he preached a middle way to liberation between worldly indulgence and extreme asceticism is highly probable. That he cultivated practices of mindfulness and meditation, which led to peace and serenity, is almost certain.

That said, the earliest Buddhist traditions showed little interest in the details of the life of the Buddha. It was, after all, his teachings – the Dharma as Buddhists call it – rather than his person that mattered.

But we can discern a growing interest in the life of the Buddha from the first century BCE until the second or third centuries of the common era as the Buddha transitions within Buddhism from a teacher to a saviour, from human to divine.

It was from the first to the fifth centuries CE that there developed a number of Buddhist texts giving full accounts of the life of the Buddha , from his birth (and before) to his renunciation of the world, his enlightenment, his teachings, and finally to his death.

Thus, there is a long period of at least 500-900 years between the death of the Buddha and these biographies of him. Can we rely upon these very late lives of the Buddha for accurate information about the events of his life? Probably not.

Nevertheless, the legend of his life and teachings still provide an answer to the meaning of human life for some 500 million followers in the modern world.

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Paragraph on Buddhism

Buddhism is a way of life; it is one of the oldest beliefs practiced by a large population. Religions and beliefs are faith in society. For a better understanding of this ancient religion and belief, we have created some of the important paragraphs mentioned in the below section. Kindly read it as per your need.

Short and Long Paragraphs on Buddhism

Paragraph 1 – 100 words.

Buddhism is one of the oldest religions of the world. It’s a faith, a way of life, and a religion of peace. Buddhism was founded before more than 2,500 years ago in India. Lord Buddha was the founder of Buddhism, it is said that his teachings were the foundation of Buddhism. The path of self-enlightenment can be achieved by meditation and insight.

Lord Buddha showed the world path of spirituality and self-help. He was born as Siddhartha. After his spiritual awakening and a journey of enlightenment he called “Buddha”. The Buddhist devotees focus on the path of enlightenment. They mediate and remind the Buddha and his sermons. Buddhism is an old religion that was evolved in modern-day.

Paragraph 2 – 120 Words

Buddhism is lenient religion; the teachings of Buddha are the base of religion. The Logical teachings given by Lord Buddha is worldwide famous. The devotees of Buddhism practice deep meditation.

Buddhism is different from other religions, as Buddhists believe that there is no personal creator. The individuals should make their own path for their best they can. The Buddhist teachings for life say that:

There are three marks of existence i.e., the concept of impermanent, unsatisfactory, and interdependent. It means that nothing is permanent, nothing can make human tendency truly happy and all things are related to each other. The concept of the Middle way, meditation, Nirvana is the base of Buddhism. Buddhists believe in the path of self-enlightenment and thus they worship Lord Buddha and remember his teachings. However, most of Buddhism ideas are very similar to Hinduism.

Paragraph 3 – 150 Words

Buddhism is predicated on the teachings of Lord Buddha. The roots of Buddhism are from India. It is widely practiced in the Asian region. Buddhism evolved from the ancient period to modern-day. Buddhism is a philosophy a sect that covers the way of spiritual awakening. In Asian subcontinent countries, people follow it religiously. The way of practicing religion might differ in countries.

Lord Buddha was born as Siddhartha Gautama in the royal family of Kapilvastu (current day Indo-Nepalese Border). When prince Siddhartha (Young Buddha) confronted the realities of the world like old age, sickness, birth, death, and rebirth, he concluded that these are the reality of humankind. He became curious to find these answers of truth.

He also felt that the caste system and ruling of the upper caste in society slowly taking over humanity. He decided to leave the luxurious life for finding these answers of truth. He spent 45 years of life in exile.

Paragraph 4 – 200 Words

Buddhism is a belief of self-awakening and spirituality. Buddhists believe that there are three jewels of life that are the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. “Buddha” means the awakened one. Buddhist devotees say “I take refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha”. They find calmness in these jewels.

Tripitaka is the religious Book of Buddhism. It is written in ancient Indian language Pali. Pali is similar to the language that Buddha used to speak. Buddhists worship in temples, Pagodas, or in Buddhist Monastery. Devotees also worship in homes in front of Lord Buddha statue. They meditate in front of the Lord Buddha statue. Wheel, White lotus, and Lord Buddha images are the symbo0ls of Buddhism.

Buddhism followers worship Lord Buddha and meditate. They make floral offerings, candles, incense sticks, holy water at Buddhist temples. They prefer meditating in peace and they chant verses from their holy book. Buddhists visit temples often on Full Moon day (Purnima).

Vesak or Buddha Purnima is the most important festival of Buddhism. Lord Buddha has a divine aura; he was an extraordinary man who was born for a special purpose. According to scholars, Buddhism is not actually a religion or sect but it is a way of life or a spiritual tradition.

Paragraph 5 – 250 Words

Buddhism is predicated on the teachings of Lord Buddha. He was born in the 6th century in an aristocratic family of Kapilvastu. When he was 21 years old, he left his family and went to spend the rest of life in exile. He traveled across India for finding the real meaning of truth, happiness, and the path of self-awakening. After spending six years in exile, He attained self-enlightenment while meditating under Mahabodhi tree. Gautama Buddha attains Nirvana; his disciples began a religious movement across the world.

There are three types of Buddhism, divided by the cultures of different countries. Theravada Buddhism, Mahayana Buddhism, and Tibetan Buddhism are the type of Buddhism practiced in the world. Buddhism prohibits the killing of living things, lying, consuming drugs or alcohol, etc.

Common Buddhist Practices includes the hearing and learning the Dharma. Buddhism tells us that one should follow the path of humanity and concentrate on the path of self-enlightenment. Buddhism says that anyone can be Buddha, who is achieved enlightenment. The teachings of Buddhism are different and interpreted differently in different parts of the world. Buddhism states that the sufferings of the world are unavoidable.

By following the noble path, one can found a way from these sufferings of the world. The wheel of Dharma represented in Buddhism depicts the eightfold paths of Buddhism i.e. “Right View, Right Thinking, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Diligence, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration”. By that specialize in these paths one should attain enlightenment. Buddhism also says that everyone has an eternal power that can lead them to be their own enlightenment.

FAQs: Frequently Asked Questions

Ans. Buddhism was founded by Siddhartha Gautama.

Ans. Buddhism was founded in the late 6th century.

Ans. The population of Buddhists in the World is 535 millions.

Ans. Buddha gave his first sermon in Sarnath Varanasi?

Ans. Bodhi tree is named after Buddha.

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Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology

Overview Essay

Buddhism: A Mixed Dharmic Bag: Debates about Buddhism and Ecology

Christopher Ives , Stonehill College

Originally published in the Routledge Handbook of Religion and Ecology

See also “Buddhism and Ecology: Theory and Practice” by Les Sponsel

In recent decades Buddhists have started formulating responses to the climate crisis and other environmental problems.   In the months leading up to the 2015 climate conference in Paris, for example, the Dalai Lama, Thich Nhat Hanh, and other Buddhist leaders signed the “Buddhist Climate Change Statement to World Leaders.”  In 2009 several eco-Buddhists published an edited volume, A Buddhist Response to the Climate Emergency , which lead to the formulation of an organization, Ecological Buddhism, and a declaration, “The Time to Act is Now: A Buddhist Declaration on Climate Change.”  Another group of Buddhists, many of whom are connected to Spirit Rock Meditation Center, founded in 2013 the Dharma Teachers International Collaborative on Climate Change and issued a declaration of their own: “The Earth is My Witness.”  A third recently-formed organization, One Earth Sangha, takes as its mission “expressing a Buddhist response to climate change and other threats to our home.”  A range of other Buddhist organizations and institutions have been offering additional responses to the eco-crisis, including the International Network of Engaged Buddhists (led by Thai Buddhist Sulak Sivaraksa), the Buddhist Peace Fellowship, Ordinary Dharma, Green Sangha, the Green Gulch Zen Center north of San Francisco, and the Zen Environmental Studies Institute at Zen Mountain Monastery in New York State, as well as the Boston Research Center for the 21 st Century, Wonderwell Mountain Refuge in New Hampshire, the Sarvodaya Movement in Sri Lanka, the Tesi Environmental Awareness Movement in Tibet (also known as Eco-Tibet), and the headquarters of Sōtō Zen Buddhism in Japan.  Parallel to the praxis of these groups, eco-Buddhists have published monographs, anthologies, and articles in journals and popular Buddhist publications.  What we are seeing in these writings is the emergence of a new theoretical dimension of the Buddhist tradition: environmental ethics.

In this “greening” of Buddhism, eco-Buddhists have tapped an array of sources: texts, doctrines, ethical values, and ritual practices.  The arguments and activism of these Buddhists, however, are not without controversy. Critics have claimed, for example, that Buddhism has not been as ecological as some have made it out to be, and that eco-Buddhists are engaging in acts of eisegesis by looking selectively in Buddhist sources to support the environmental ethic they brought to their practice of Buddhism in the first place. 

It is important to note that eco-Buddhists are generally focused more on continuing their activism than on responding to the skeptics. In this respect, there is no ongoing debate per se, though several eco-Buddhists have responded to the main criticisms, which concern “interdependence,” identification with nature, Buddhist views of nature, the status of animals, Buddhism in relation to core constructs in Environmental Ethics, and adapted ritual practices.

interdependence and identification

Much of the debate about Buddhism and ecology has centered on interpretations of paṭicca-samuppāda (Skt. pratītya-samutpāda ), which eco-Buddhists often translate as “interdependence” but can be more accurately translated as “dependent origination.”  The Buddha reportedly expressed this doctrine as a broad principle: “When this exists, that comes to be; with the arising of this, that arises. When this does not exist that does not come to be; with the cessation of this, that ceases.” [1]    Eco-Buddhists frequently lift up this doctrine in support of their arguments that Buddhism, based on this notion of radical interconnectedness, is ecological and that Buddhist practice fosters a strong awarenss of this interconnection as well as intimacy if not identity with nature.  According to leading eco-Buddhist Joanna Macy, the egotistical self is “replaced by wider constructs of identity and self-interest—by what you might call the ecological self or the eco-self, co-extensive with other beings and the life of our planet” (Macy 1990, 53); and this shift “puts one into the world with a livelier, more caring sense of social engagement” (Macy 1991, 190).

Critics have questioned whether recent discourse on “interdependence” accurately represents the Buddhist tradition.  According to David McMahan, “The monks and ascetics who developed the concept of dependent origination and its implications saw the phenomenal world as a binding chain, a web of entanglement, not a web of wonderment” (2008, 153), and early Buddhist texts advocate not engagement but “ disengagement from all entanglement in this web” (154).  Mark Blum writes that early Buddhists were motivated not “to embrace, revere, or ordain nature, but to remove any and all personal craving for and attachment to nature within themselves so as to become aloof or indifferent ( upekṣa )” (2009, 215).  Critics also question claims that awakening to paṭicca-samuppāda leads us automatically to value and care for the world. Christopher Gowans writes, “…why should the realization that we human beings are interdependent parts of the natural world give us reason to value other parts of that world?  That all things are interdependent would not seem to establish, all by itself, that these things have some kind of value that we should care about, appreciate or respect” (2015, 287).

The debate about early Buddhist views of the world, however, is not settled.  Some have argued that the main thing that early Buddhists were rejecting was not the world or nature per se but certain ways of viewing it, responding to it, and living in it.  Gowans writes, “It may be said…that in early Buddhism suffering is not an essential feature of the natural world as such, but of our unenlightened way of experiencing the world.  Moreover, enlightenment is not an escape from the natural world, but a non-attached way of living in it (as exemplified by the life of the Buddha)” (2015, 284).  From this perspective, nirvana is less a separate, unconditioned realm realized after one steps back from the conditioned world of samsara than a mental state attained when one frees oneself from the “three poisons” of greed, ill-will, and ignorance. This facet of Buddhist thought becomes more pronounced in the emergence of Mahāyāna Buddhism, in which philosophers like Nāgārjuna, with their critique of the distinction between nirvana and samsara, shift the focus from “transcending samsara” to living an “awakened life in the midst of the world” (McMahan 2008, 158).  (As we will see, Mahāyāna Buddhists view the conditioned world (of nature) described by the doctrine of paṭicca-samuppāda more positively than early Buddhists did, and it is generally out of this Mahāyāna perspective that eco-Buddhists marshal their arguments.) In short, although the monks who formulated the doctrine of paṭicca-samuppāda may have seen the world as a trap, this does not mean that the doctrine constitutes a negative view of the world. 

Rendering paṭicca-samuppāda as “interdependence” has generated derivative statements that have prompted other criticisms.  As I have outlined elsewhere (Ives 2009), eco-Buddhist discourse includes claims like “everything, including us, is dependent on everything else” (Loy 2003, 85); “in an undivided world everything miraculously supports everything else” (Batchelor 1992, 35); and “We are born into a world in which all things nurture us” (Aitken 2000, 426).  Some eco-Buddhists have also derived from paṭicca-samuppāda a notion of responsibility, making claims like “in being aware of interdependence we also assume responsibility for all that occurs” (Deicke 1990, 166).   

We can criticize such claims as these by noting that although things may affect each other, it is not necessarily the case that I depend on everything else or that all things support and nurture me: while I am affected by the destroyed nuclear reactors in Fukushima, they do not support or nurture me and my well-being does not depend on them but depends on my becoming physically in dependent of them.   Nor in any intelligible ethical sense do we all have to assume responsibility for everything that happens: Jewish children in the Warsaw ghetto did not bear any responsibility for the Holocaust.

Buddhist views of nature

Some eco-Buddhists lift up passages from suttas to claim that from the start Buddhism has valued nature.  For example, they point out that early canonical sources celebrate wild places—with their solitude, silence, and abundant examples of impermanence—as good locations for meditative practice.  Critics have pointed out, however, that the Pali canon also portrays them as dangerous, for it is there that one encounters large predators like tigers, poisonous snakes and insects, bandits, and others who would do one harm.  The preferred nature is a garden or groomed park, and the Cakkavatti-sīhanāda-sutta portrays a future utopia that is more urban than wild, as noted by Ian Harris: “In Jambudvīpa cities and towns are so close to one another that a cock can comfortably fly from one to the next.  In this perfect world only urban and suburban environments are left” (Harris 1991, 108).  This celebration of groomed gardens and urban utopias amounts to what Lawrence Schmithausen terms the “pro-civilization strand” of early Buddhism (1991, 14-17). 

At the very least, however, early Buddhists did not see nature in stark instrumentalist terms as something to be exploited for the sake of building human cities and civilization. David Eckel writes, “one does not attempt to dominate or destroy nature (in the form of either animals or plants) in order to seek a human good” (1997, 337).  “But,” Eckel continues, “neither is the wild and untamed aspect of nature to be encouraged or cultivated. The natural world functions as a locus and an example of the impermanence and unsatisfactoriness of death and rebirth.  The goal to be cultivated is not wildness in its own right but a state of awareness in which the practitioner can let go of the ‘natural’—of all that is impermanent and unsatisfactory—and achieve the sense of peace and freedom that is represented by the state of nirvāṇa . One might say that nature is not to be dominated but to be relinquished in order to become free” (337). 

This view of nature, however, is found mainly in early Buddhism rather than in the frameworks from which many eco-Buddhists are operating: Mahāyāna texts and East Asian Buddhism.  These strands of Buddhism offer a view of nature that differs from what we have sketched thus far.  The Avataṃsaka -s ūtra , for example, formulates a notion of interconnection through the metaphor of Indra’s Net and lifts up the seeker Sudhana, who has “a vision of the entire cosmos within the body of the Buddha Mahāvairocana,” becomes one with that cosmic buddha, and thereby stands as the prime example of “the identification of a person with a being who is the universe itself or with the underlying reality of things.” (McMahan 2008, 158).  This interpretation of dependent origination, more positive view of the world, and advocacy of identification with the world helped shape Zen Buddhism and, by extension, Thich Nhat Hanh’s argumentation about “interbeing” as foundation for ecological awareness and compassionate responsiveness to suffering.  

Eco-Buddhists also draw upon such East Asian resources as hermitage traditions, the celebration of nature in arts influenced by Buddhism, and discourse on the Zen-inspired love of nature ostensibly felt by the Japanese. [2]  Also, as is the case with early Buddhism, many East Asian Buddhists value natural settings as good places for contemplative practice and as a bountiful source of symbols for Buddhist teachings like impermanence.  Granted, this is, strictly speaking, a kind of instrumental value rather than intrinsic value, but nature is indeed being valued and the view of the natural world as dangerous, ensnaring, or unsatisfactory has dropped largely out of the picture.

the status of animals

Eco-Buddhists have lifted up the Jātaka Tales , with an array of virtuous animals, as granting value and dignity to non-human species.  They have also cited Buddhist texts that establish a kinship between humans and animals; the Laṅkāvatāra-sūtra , for example, in admonishing Buddhists not to eat meat, includes the passage, “In the long course of rebirth there is not one among living beings with form who has not been mother, father, brother, sister, son, or daughter, or some other relative.  Being connected with the process of taking birth, one is kin to all wild and domestic animals, birds, and beings born from the womb” (Swearer 2001, 227).  Eco-Buddhists have argued that this intimate karmic connection between humans and animals provides a basis for valuing animals.

Scholars have pointed out, however, that in most Buddhist texts animals are portrayed as intellectually and morally inferior to humans and exist as one of the three “unfortunate” types of rebirth; they do not restrain their desires, they can be malevolent when they prey on other animals, and they lead an unhappy existence (Schmithausen 1991, 16).  As such, Ian Harris writes, “beyond the fact that they appear to be beings destined for final enlightenment, they have no intrinsic value in their present form” (1995, 107).  In response, Donald Swearer has argued that Harris’s “position is founded on too narrow a construction of the Buddhist view of nature and animals based on a selective reading of particular texts and traditions” and that Harris needs to take into account the Jātaka Tales , which do value animals (1997, 39).  Gowans and Harris point out, however, that the animals in these stories are anthropomorphized and function to motivate humans to cultivate virtues like compassion. Gowans comments that these tales use the device of “depicting various living beings as proxies for human beings,” and “These are mainly morality tales about human beings…” (2015, 282).  Harris claims that “the often highly anthropomorphic character of the essentially pre-Buddhist folk-tradition of the Jātakas may be said to empty the stories of any ‘naturalistic’ content, thus defeating the intention of those who bring them forward as evidence in support of an authentic Buddhist environmentalist ethic” (2000, 121). Moreover, “in the Jātaka context the animals are not animals at all in any accepted sense of the term, for at the end of each story the Buddha reveals that the central character was none other than himself, the bodhisattva , in a former life” (Harris 2000, 121).

Even so, one might respond, animals are viewed there not as mere objects but as sentient beings with at least some value, even if the tradition did not—until recently—build on this to argue in a systematic way for the protection, moral standing, or rights of animals.

Buddhism in relation to Environmental Ethics

Overlapping with the debate about the proper connotation and denotation of core Buddhist doctrines like paṭicca-samuppāda has been a debate about Buddhism and Environmental Ethics in the formal sense.   Some critics have argued that Buddhism is ill-equipped to argue for the sorts of things that typically appear as cornerstones of philosophical and religious formulations of environmental ethics, whether rights, intrinsic value, or the sanctity of nature. 

Some Buddhist writers have made claims about animal rights.  Philip Kapleau, for example, has written, about the rights animals “undeniably have” (1986, 13).  Critics have raised the issue of what might be a legitimate Buddhist basis for claims about the possession of rights, given the Buddhist rejection of the soul and any other sort of separate, atomistic existence apart from the web of changing relationships that constitute things.  In response, eco-Buddhists have argued that intrinsic value and moral standing derive from sentience, especially the ability to feel pain and suffer in a significant sense.  Others have looked to buddha-nature, but Buddhists do not agree on the connotation and scope of this construct.  Some think of it as the potential to become awakened while others see it as an inherent awakening. Early Buddhists ascribed it only to (sentient) animals, not to (insentient) plants, while some in East Asia extended the scope to plants and even to inorganic things like rocks and waters.  Some eco-Buddhists have celebrated this broad attribution of buddha-nature as a powerful ethical resource, but in terms of the doctrine’s usefulness for environmental ethics, we must address the issue of what “the view of the presence of Buddha-Nature even in plants, mountains, and rivers entails for practical behavior” (Schmithausen 1991, 24).

Entering this debate, one can argue that rather than forcing Buddhism to fit into received categories and frameworks in environmental ethics (or Western philosophical ethics more broadly), eco-Buddhists might remain true to their tradition and still construct a viable environmental ethic by taking as their primary focus the alleviation of suffering of humans and other sentient beings, or in positive terms, the promotion of their sustained well-being, which is contingent upon certain types of ecosystems.

Of course, focusing on humans and other sentient beings lands us in the arena of the debate about the respective values of individuals and the wholes of which they are part, that is to say, the ongoing debate in Environmental Ethics between individualism and holism.  In large part Buddhist ethical concern—expressed through such doctrines as non-harming, loving-kindness, compassion, and the bodhisattva ideal—is directed toward individual suffering beings, not groups, species, or wholes like ecosystems.  

In general, however, while they may not agree on whether the main Buddhist ethic is a virtue ethic or a form of utilitarianism, scholars and Buddhists tend agree that central Buddhist virtues—or to put it in a way that is more faithful to Buddhism, wholesome mental states—do offer resources for environmental ethics in several senses, especially the informal sense of “sets of beliefs, values, and guidelines that get put into practice in attempts to live in an ecological manner” (Ives 2013, 544).  As I have outlined elsewhere (2013), Buddhism offers a view of flourishing that is based on the cultivation of an array of “wholesome” mental states and values with clear environmental ramifications: generosity, non-acquisitiveness, simplicity, frugality, restraint, contentment, loving-kindness, non-harming, and mindfulness.

Simply put, as humanity faces the eco-crisis, Buddhism offers a value system and way of living that not only lead to greater fulfillment than materialist and consumerist living does but also prove useful for mitigating such problems as global warming and adapting to a new world in which we will all be forced to live more simply.  That being said, Stephanie Kaza has laid the groundwork for an important debate with a remark about one of the Buddhist values often lifted up in eco-Buddhist discourse: “The practice of detachment to hobble the power of desire could actually work against such environmental values as ‘sense of place’ and ‘ecological identity’” (2006, 201).

While the de facto virtue ethic of Buddhism does offer resources for ecological living, the discipline of Ethics features an ongoing debate about the limitations of virtue ethics—Buddhist or otherwise—in responding to urgent problems like the climate crisis.  Though the cultivation of a virtuous character over the course of a lifetime may very well lead to a more sustainable way of being, it does not readily prompt the kind of immediate response that the climate crisis calls for, nor does it offer much help in making decisions about what might be most effective response to the climate crisis and other environmental problems.

adapted ritual practices

In addition to tapping Buddhist metaphysical constructs, texts, and values, eco-Buddhists have reformulated ritual practices, invented new practices, or simply engaged in activism in response to environmental problems, [3] and these efforts have spawned debates as well.  Buddhists in Thailand have been debating the practice of ordaining trees as a way to protect them from logging and protect rural farming communities that depend on forests.  This practice, originating in the 1980s, immediately caused backlash from developers and government officials whose profits, power, and agendas were threatened by the practice.  Critics among the laity and the sangha administration have claimed that the environmentalist monks performing the rituals cannot ordain trees, for ordination rituals can be done only for humans (Darlington 2012), and that political and economic activism is inappropriate for monks and reduces their purity.  In particular, as Sue Darlington points out, the ordinations “challenge what people consider sacred—placing trees on the same level as monks goes against the sacred and social hierarchy in place” (2012, 23). 

This debate in Thailand is part of a larger debate about the appropriateness of Buddhist activism.  Over the years this author has heard Zen masters and other Buddhist teachers advocate that their students devote their efforts to intensive meditative practice and defer social activism until after they have woken up or at least reach advanced stages on the Buddhist path.  Some have even said that if one tries to save the world before extricating oneself from the self-centered ego, one will only end up making things worse.  As part of a critique of broader “Engaged Buddhism,” some have also argued that eco-Buddhism is a watering down of Buddhism insofar as it draws attention away from sustained wrestling with existential suffering and directs it to political agitation.

An eco-Buddhist might respond to this criticism by noting that existential suffering is not the only form of suffering that the Buddha took seriously, and working to reduce social, economic, and other forms of suffering through activism falls within the scope of the foundation Buddhist commitment to reduce suffering in all of its forms.

concluding remarks

Perhaps the harshest criticism to date in the debate about Buddhism and ecology has come from Ian Harris, who once wrote that eco-Buddhism consists primarily of “exogenous elements somehow tacked on to a traditional Buddhist core which is incapable, without modification, of responding to the present environmental crisis” (1995, 206).  Granted, some eco-Buddhists may be misconstruing doctrines, but most are simply reinterpreting them in response to the eco-crisis, and this hermeneutic should not be dismissed out of hand. In some respects they are doing the “modification” that Harris mentions, and in most cases what we are seeing are reinterpretations of doctrines and practices in ways that at the very least do not contravene the overall Buddhist worldview and may actually be drawing out its ecological ramifications in a legitimate exegetical manner.  In this respect eco-Buddhists are engaging in the sort of intellectual labor that, for example, biblical theologians have been doing for centuries as they look selectively in the Bible for passages that support the constructive argument they are making (and defending as consistent with what they take to be the core principles of Judaism or Christianity) in response to challenges they have faced in their particular historical situations. For example, many sections of the Bible accept—or at least do not reject—slavery, but this does not mean that anti-slavery arguments that have tapped other parts of the Bible are illegitimate. Likewise, the presence of negative views of wild nature and animals in early Buddhist texts does not in and of itself delegitimize theorizing that draws from other resources in those—or other—Buddhist texts (though it does undermine broad claims like “Buddhism is an ecological religion” or “Buddhists have always revered nature”).

Like other religious traditions, then, Buddhism has continuously changed as its beliefs and practices have been reinterpreted in different cultural contexts and historical moments.  So as David McMahan points out,

Simply to dismiss the current environmental and ethical discourse of Buddhist interdependence as an inadequate representation of traditional Buddhism…would fail to take seriously the process of modernity as it manifests itself on the ground…. Like virtually all normative religious reflection, this discourse is practitioners’ constructive response to an unprecedented situation, not a historiographical endeavor.  Pointing out the incongruities between ancient and modern cosmologies, while crucial, is not more historically important than showing how the often radical reconstitution of doctrine in terms of present circumstances has attempted to bridge these incongruities.  The history of religions is precisely the history of such reconstitutions of doctrine and practice, which are themselves reconstitutions of prior versions (2008, 180)

It is also important to note that some of the most important eco-Buddhists doing this modification and reinterpretation are not convert Buddhists who might be bringing exogenous elements from their Christian, Jewish, or leftist roots to bear on Buddhism but rather renowned Asian Buddhists who were brought up in the Buddhist tradition, such as the Dalai Lama, Thich Nhat Hanh, Buddhadasa, and Sulak Sivaraksa.  Harris seems to assume that eco-Buddhists are all Western converts or simply people approaching Buddhism from typically Western perspectives, but this is clearly not the case (even allowing for some degree of Western influence on Asian eco-Buddhists).  For this reason, the argument that “much that masquerades under the label of eco-Buddhism…on analysis, turns out to be an uneasy partnership between Spinozism, New Age religiosity and highly selective Buddhism” (2000, 132) does not do justice to the full scope of eco-Buddhism.

At the same time, eco-Buddhists, or at least those focused on theory more than praxis, have much intellectual labor to do. For example, work needs to be done to clarify the exact resources that the doctrine of dependent origination offers. As a metaphysical construct, it does highlight how we are all embedded in nature and our actions affect everything around us and everything affects us, but, this process of interrelating or “interbeing” pertains to all configurations of reality, whether a relatively pristine wilderness area or a nuclear reactor that is melting down.  For this reason, if we are to avoid the naturalistic fallacy of conflating the “is” and the “ought,” and if we are to make wise decisions, we need to make distinctions between various configurations (such as the pristine wilderness area, the lethal reactor, this or that economic system, this or that way of living) by considering which are desirable or optimal and which are to be mitigated or eliminated.  Some eco-Buddhists have begun addressing this question (Jones 1993, 2003; Loy 2003; Kaza 2008; Ives 2000, 2011), and as their formulations become more systematic we can expect further debates.

Aitken, Robert (2000). “Envisioning the Future.”  In Dharma Rain: Sources of Buddhist Environmentalism , edited by Stephanie Kaza and Kenneth Kraft, 423-438. Boston: Shambhala.

Batchelor, Stephen (1992). “The Sands of the Ganges: Notes towards a Buddhist Ecological Philosophy.” In Buddhism and Ecology , edited by Martine Batchelor and Kerry Brown, 31-49. New York: Cassell Publishers.

Blum, Mark. “The Transcendentalist Ghost in EcoBuddhism.” In TransBuddhism: Transmission, Translation, Transformation , edited by Nalini Bhushan, Jay Garfield, and Abraham Zablocki, 209-238. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2009.

Darlington, Susan M. (2012). The Ordination of a Tree: The Thai Buddhist Environmental Movement . Albany: State University of New York Press.

Deicke, Carla. “Women and Ecocentricity.” In Dharma Gaia: A Harvest of Essays in Buddhism and Ecology , edited by Alan Hunt Badiner, 165-68. Berkeley: Parallax Press, 1990.

de Silva, Lily (2000). “Early Buddhist Attitudes toward Nature.” In Dharma Rain: Sources of Buddhist Environmentalism , edited by Stephanie Kaza and Kenneth Kraft, 91-103.  Boston: Shambhala Publications.

Eckel, Malcolm David (1997). “Is There a Buddhist Philosophy of Nature.” In Buddhism and Ecology: The Interconnection of Dharma and Deeds , edited by Mary Evelyn Tucker and Duncan Ryūken Williams, 327-349. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Gowans, Christopher W. (2015). Buddhist Moral Philosophy: An Introduction . New York: Routledge.

Harris, Ian (2000). “Buddhism and Ecology.” In Contemporary Buddhist Ethics , edited by Damien Keown, 113-135. London: Curzon Press.

_____ (1995). “Buddhist Environmental Ethics and Detraditionalisation: The Case of Eco-Buddhism.” Religion 25, no. 3 (July 1995): 199-211.

_____ (1991). “How Environmentalist is Buddhism?” Religion 21: 101-114.

Ives, Christopher. (2009). “In Search of a Green Dharma: Philosophical Issues in Buddhist Environmental Ethics.”  In Destroying Mara Forever: Buddhist Ethics Essays in Honor of Damien Keown , edited by Charles Prebish and John Powers, 165-185.  Ithaca NY: Snow Lion Publications.

_____ (2005). “Japanese Love of Nature.” In The Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature , vol. 1, edited by Bron R. Taylor, 899-900. New York: Thoemmes Continuum.

_____ (2011). “Liberation from Economic Dukkha: A Buddhist Critique of the Gospels of Growth and Globalization in Dialogue with John Cobb.” In The World Market and Interreligious Dialogue , edited by Catherine Cornille and Glenn Willis, 107-127. Eugene OR: Cascade Books.

_____ (2013). “Resources for Buddhist Environmental Ethics.”  Journal of Buddhist Ethics 20: 541-571.

_____ (1992). Zen Awakening and Society . London and Honolulu: Macmillan and the University of Hawai’i Press.

Jones, Ken (1993).  Beyond Optimism: A Buddhist Political Ecology . Oxford: Jon Carpenter Publishing.

_____ (2003). The New Social Face of Buddhism: A Call to Action .  Boston: Wisdom Publications.

Kapleau, Philip (1986). To Cherish All Life: A Buddhist Case for Becoming Vegetarian. Rochester: Rochester Zen Center.

Kaza, Stephanie (2006). “The Greening of Buddhism: Promise and Perils.” In The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Ecology , edited by Roger S. Gottlieb, 184-206. New York: Oxford University Press.

_____ (2008). Mindfully Green: A Personal and Spiritual Guide to Whole Earth Thinking . Boston: Shambhala.

Loy, David R. (2003). The Great Awakening: A Buddhist Social Theory . Boston: Wisdom Publications.

Macy, Joanna (1990). “The Greening of the Self.” In Dharma Gaia: A Harvest of Essays in Buddhism and Ecology , edited by Allan Hunt Badiner, 53-63. Berkeley: Parallax Press.

_____ (1991). World as Lover, World as Self . Berkeley: Parallax Press.

McMahan, David L. (2008). The Making of Buddhist Modernism . New York: Oxford University Press.

Schmithausen, Lambert (1991).  Buddhism and Nature . Tokyo: International Institute for Buddhist Studies.

Swearer, Donald K. (1997). “The Hermeneutics of Buddhist Ecology in Contemporary Thailand: Buddhadāsa and Dhammapiṭaka.” In Buddhism and Ecology: The Interconnection of Dharma and Deeds , edited by Mary Evelyn Tucker and Duncan Ryūken Williams, 21-44. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

_____ (2001). “Principles and Poetry, Places and Stories: The Resources of Buddhist Ecology.” Daedalus 130, no. 4 (Fall 2001): 225-241.

[1] This appears, for example, in the eleventh section of the Bahudhātuka Sutta in the Majjhima Nikākaya . Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli and Bhikkhu Bodhi, trs. (2001), The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Majjhima Nikāya (Boston: Wisdom Publications), 927.

[2] Technically, as several of us have pointed out, in Japan the nature that is valued and loved most is a tamed, distilled, miniaturized, and stylized nature, not wild creatures, ecosystems, or the wilderness (Ives 2005, 900).

[3] For example, see Kaza 2000 and Swearer 1997 and 2001.   

Header photo : Paro Taktsang Buddhist Monastery, Paro Valley, Bhutan

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Korean Buddhism

Buddhism was introduced to the Korean Peninsula from China during the Korean Three Kingdoms period. It first arrived in Koguryŏ, a kingdom on the northern end of the peninsula, in 372 CE and then in Paekche, a kingdom on the southwest of the peninsula, in 384 CE. It arrived in Shilla, a kingdom on the southeast of the peninsula, in 521 CE by way of Koguryŏ. The influence of Chinese Buddhism on Korean Buddhism cannot be treated lightly because Korea imported mostly sinologized Buddhism, not Indian Buddhism. However, Korea added its own color and historical and social context.

Throughout history, Buddhism has significantly influenced the worldview of the Korean people, instilling concepts such as karma and the interconnectedness of all things. Korean Buddhist philosophers place an emphasis on cultivating the power of the mind, underpinning their teachings with the belief that the mind of every individual is inherently the Buddha’s mind. Nevertheless, their narratives vary when addressing the dynamic tension between aristocratic and populist Buddhism, the quest for personal enlightenment versus the salvation of others, and the dichotomy of doctrinal study and meditation practice.

1.1 The Theory of Karma

1.2 political ideas of buddhism, 2.1 the impact of the yogācāra school, 2.2.1 dependent arising of the universe, 2.2.2 dependent arising from original nature, 2.3 awakening of faith in the mahāyāna and the one mind, 2.4 reconciling buddhist doctrines, 2.5 arrival of sŏn buddhism, 3.1.1 harmonizing doctrine and practice—Ŭich’ŏn (義天, 1055–1101 ce), 3.1.2 reconciling meditation and doctrine—chinul (知訥, 1158–1210), 3.2 the formation of korean sŏn buddhism, 4.1 critique and defense of buddhism, 4.2 harmonizing buddhism and confucianism, 5.1.1 placing buddhism in the western intellectual context, 5.1.2 aligning buddhist philosophy with modern thought, 5.1.3 comparison of buddhism to christianity, 5.1.4 the identity of korean buddhism, 5.2.1 enlightenment and social engagement, 5.2.2 won buddhism, 5.2.3 buddhism of engagement, 5.3 women and korean buddhist philosophy, korean materials, other internet resources, related entries, 1. first buddhist teachings introduced to korea.

When Buddhism reached the Korean Peninsula, it encountered a spiritual landscape dominated by indigenous shamanic religions and Confucian ethics. The first major Buddhist teachings introduced in Korea were the theory of Karma and the political ideas of Buddhism (Ko: 30–37). These core concepts resonated with the Korean people, leading Buddhism to soon supplant the previous spiritual systems.

Karma, an idea originating from Indian thought, is a cause-and-effect principle explaining the workings of the world and human life. It is a universal law that even deities cannot escape. The term Karma translates into several Chinese words, each representing different connotations of Karma in Buddhism. These are “Comeuppance” ( yinguoyingbao , 因果應報), “Karma” ( ye , 業), and “Karmic retribution” ( yebao , 業報). Yinguoyingbao represents the principle that good deeds earn rewards and bad deeds earn punishments. Ye implies that every thought, word, and action in human behavior yields a result, signaling a Buddhist reinterpretation of Karma. Yebao refers to human behavior and its results; typically the outcomes people experience in this life due to actions in their past lives.

The theory of Karma taught Korean people to recognize the connections between actions and their consequences. Before the advent of Buddhism, people generally believed that all events were the result of unpredictable natural forces, and that nothing was within their control. However, Buddhism introduced the concept of individuals’ roles and influence in the world, portraying them as active agents capable of significantly impacting their surroundings, rather than passive entities entirely subject to natural laws. This understanding of Karma became deeply embedded in the worldview of the Korean people.

Additionally, the theory of Karma introduced the concept of transmigration. Before the arrival of Buddhism, it was commonly believed that the realms of the living and the dead were distinct and physically separated. Beings from one realm could exert spiritual influence over the other, especially among family members. Ancestors’ spirits were thought to be able to help or harm their descendants in the world of the living, and descendants were believed to be capable of aiding their ancestors in resting peacefully in the realm of the dead. When a person dies, the spirit permanently departs the world of the living, with no rebirth. However, Buddhism introduced the idea of past and future lives through the process of rebirth, proposing that individuals are continuously reborn into circumstances determined by their past lives. The concept of Karma provided the Korean people with a logical explanation for ethical behavior.

The ruling class embraced Buddhism because it provided advanced knowledge and ideas to fortify kingship. Specifically, during Shilla’s transition from tribal coalitions to a centralized kingdom, King Chinhŭng leveraged the concept of Chakravarti to reinforce his kingship. Chakravarti is the title of an ideal king in Buddhism, ruling by truth rather than force. This term implies a king who turns the wheel of truth, symbolizing limitless governing power. The king’s vast governing power is depicted through the rolling wheel on his castle. His right to rule, earned through good Karma in a past life, is indestructible. Under his reign, peace and justice are assured for all. For instance, if he were to go to war, he would achieve a bloodless victory as the enemy would surrender upon seeing the aura of the wheel leading the army.

The Chakravarti concept supported the appointment of a king over a tribal coalition to ensure stability. Furthermore, the people equated a king with Maitreya, the world’s savior Buddha. Buddhism was perceived as more rational and potent than indigenous belief systems, enabling Buddhist kings to make shamans and political rivals submit more easily. Such political thoughts significantly strengthened kingship and centralized governments in the three kingdoms.

2. The Flourishing of Buddhist Philosophy

Upon Buddhism’s advent in Korea, it was perceived as a progressive ideological system and swiftly adopted by the Korean populace. This adoption led to a more widespread belief in Buddhism and deepened the study of Buddhist scriptures. In particular, the scriptures from the Mādhyamaka, Yogācāra, and precepts schools gained significant traction. Numerous theoretical schools such as Sanlun, Shelun, Yogācāra, and Niepan were explored extensively (Huh 2005: 7). While Sanlun was a major stream in Koguryŏ, and Baekche, the Yogācāra School was the primary Buddhist school in Shilla (Ko 1989:138). However, towards the late Unified Shilla period (780–935CE), Huayan (K. Hwaŏm ) School eventually became the most influential branch of Korean Buddhism.

The Yogācāra School, a major philosophical branch of Mahāyāna Buddhism, proposes that all beings are simply manifestations of consciousness. It investigates the workings of human consciousness, the nature of human afflictions, and the transformation of tainted consciousness to an untainted original form. According to Yogācāra teachings, human consciousness exists at eight levels: the first five correspond to the senses, the sixth to the mind, the seventh to self-consciousness that creates the belief of self from stored consciousness, and the eighth to the storehouse consciousness storing the seeds of karma. Yogācāra practice aims to purify all consciousness levels, transforming deluded consciousness into wisdom.

In China, the Dilun School and the Shelun School are the primary schools that focus on Yogācāra scriptures. The former studies Treaties on Ten Buddhist Principles (Ch. Shidijinglun , 十地經論; Skt. Daśabhūmikasūtram ) and the Flower Garland sūtra, later developing into the Huayan School. The Shelun School derives teachings from the Discourse on the Perfection of Consciousness-Only (Ch. Shedachenglun , 攝大乘論; Skt. Mahāyānasaṃgraha ). Zendi (眞諦, 499–569 CE), a key translator and scholar in the Shelun School, introduced the concept of a ninth pure consciousness, a belief rooted in the Buddha nature theory. He thought that the tainted eighth consciousness and the purified consciousness were essentially different, so they should be separately named.

A Shilla monk Wŏnkwang (圓光, 542–640 CE) studied Shelun philosophy in China before teaching it in Shilla. His teachings emphasized the pure Buddha mind, urging followers of Mahāyāna teachings to primarily practice faith and understanding of the one real realm, their true mind, characterized by purity, non-obstruction, and permanence. This one real realm is referred to as the womb of Buddha (Ch. Rulaicang , 如來藏; Skt. Tathāgatagarbha ) or the ninth consciousness.

After Xunzang (602–664 CE) introduced translations of new Yogācāra scriptures from India, Korean monks wanted to learn this new teaching from him. Shilla monk Wŏnchŭk (圓測, 613–696 CE), who studied in China, tried to reconcile both Xunzang’s and Zendi’s Yogācāra teachings. Differently from Zendi, Xunzang did not posit the ninth consciousness, leading to different paths to salvation in their teachings. According to Zendi, all beings will achieve Buddhahood due to the innate Buddha nature, but Xunzang made no such guarantee. While rooted in Xunzang’s teaching of only eight consciousnesses, Wŏnchŭk incorporated the concept of pure consciousness, situating it within the eighth consciousness rather than outside it. This view suggests the eighth consciousness is not entirely tainted as it does contain pure elements. Despite being a follower of the new Yogācāra doctrines, Wŏnchŭk provided all sentient beings with the opportunity to achieve Buddhahood.

Renowned monks from Shilla, such as Ŭisang (義湘, 625–702 CE) and Wŏnhyo (元曉, 617–686 CE), studied the teachings of the Yogācāra School. These monks even sought to travel to China to learn from the famous monk Xuanzang. Wŏnhyo’s story of enlightenment, which occurred en route to China, illustrates the significant impact Yogācāra teachings had on him. When Ŭisang and Wŏnhyo reached a harbor to embark on their journey to China, they were caught in a sudden downpour and sought refuge in a small cave. During the night, Wŏnhyo woke up feeling extremely thirsty. In the darkness, he found a bowl of water nearby, drank from it, and felt a sense of satisfaction. However, come daylight, he realized he had drunk fetid water from a skull, which caused him to vomit. This experience led Wŏnhyo to question why the same water had tasted satisfactory at night but made him sick in the morning when he realized its true nature. He concluded that the water was the same, but his mind had distinguished it as clean at night and dirty in the morning. This realization—that everything is a creation of the mind—prompted him to stay in Shilla, having experienced the essential teaching of Yogācāra from Xunzang.

2.2 Hwaŏm Philosophy

The philosophy of Hwaŏm, which finds its roots in the Flower Garland Sūtra, underwent diverse interpretations by Korean monks Ŭisang and Wŏnhyo. Ŭisang, who studied in China, focused his efforts on Hwaŏm philosophy itself and established the Korean Hwaŏm school. Through dedicated practice, he aspired to achieve a state of non-discriminating cognition, enabling him to grasp the profound teachings of the Flower Garland sūtra (Ch’oe Y. 2015: 15–16). On the other hand, Wŏnhyo approached Hwaŏm philosophy from the perspective of the Awakening of Mahāyāna Faith , acknowledging its inclusive nature that harmonizes all Buddhist teachings without contradictions. This perspective led him to develop his own unique philosophy. Despite their different approaches, both Ŭisang and Wŏnhyo recognized the core Hwaŏm concepts of “dependent arising of the universe” ( Fajieyuanqi , 法界緣起) and “dependent arising from original nature” ( Xingqi , 性起).

The principle of “Dependent Arising of the Universe” outlines the essential nature of all existence. While the theory of dependent arising initially explained only the relationships among individual entities, the Hwaŏm School expanded this concept to illustrate the relationship between the universe as a whole and its individual parts. The school proposed that every individual being constitutes a fragment of the universe, and reciprocally, the universe permeates every individual entity. This profound doctrine is often encapsulated by the phrase, “one is all, and all is one”. Ŭisang saw equality in this teaching and strived to embody this sense of equality and harmony within his own community, despite the strictly stratified social structure of Shilla society at the time. Notably, he offered equal opportunities to his students, irrespective of their social class. In both interpretations, it is essential for each individual to recognize and respect the interconnected nature of all beings.

Modern Korean scholars interpret “one is all, and all is one” in two ways (Kim 1990: 216–218). In the 1970s, historians suggested this concept was used to bolster the kingship of the Shilla king. They saw the relationship between the king and his subjects as analogous to the interconnectedness of the one and all individual beings. In contrast, from the 1980s onward, Buddhist scholars began interpreting this concept as an expression of the inherent equality of all beings. They reasoned that the relationship between the one and all inherently implies equality; this equilibrium can only be sustained when all elements within the relationship are balanced, which in turn requires that each being be considered equal. Both groups also concurred that the principle of dependent arising of the universe played a significant role in unifying people. This core Hwaŏm philosophy has profoundly influenced the Korean mindset, instilling the belief in the interconnected and interdependent nature of existence.

The theory of dependent arising from original nature posits that all phenomena arise from the original nature, often referred to as Buddha nature. This Buddha nature is concealed within the human mind, yet it often goes unrecognized due to human ignorance and delusion. This philosophy is encapsulated in a phrase from the Flower Garland Sūtra, “All originates from the mind. The mind is the world’s painter”. This belief—that the human mind holds the Buddha mind, and that this mind can shape the world—became a fundamental concept in Korean Buddhism.

Ŭisang underscored this idea and emphasized spiritual practices to aid individuals in recovering the original nature. He composed a remarkable poem called the “Seal-Diagram Symbolizing the Dharma Realm of the One-Vehicle of the Avataṃsaka” ( Hwaŏmilsŭngpŏpkyeto , 華嚴一乘法界圖) which encapsulated the essential teachings of the Hwaŏm School. This exceptional poem took on a distinctive shape, consisting of precisely 210 words intricately arranged in a maze-like form, symbolizing a mandala. This distinctive shape bestowed an esoteric and magical quality upon the words, enhancing their impact.

Within the poem, Ŭisang depicted the world from the enlightened perspective, encouraging readers to diligently practice to attain enlightenment. It began by describing the entirety and tranquility of the untainted original nature, and then explored how the world arises interdependently from this very nature. When the mind attains its original nature, it ceases to discriminate between beings, transcends dualistic thoughts, relinquishes attachment to a self, and allows everything to flow following the laws of dependent arising.

The enlightened being who has fully realized the original nature perceives connections even among opposites, comprehends the entirety of the cosmos in a mustard seed, and recognizes boundless time in a single moment. Ŭisang concluded his poem by stating,

Finally, seated on the throne of the Middle Way, Ultimate Reality, From times long past he has not moved-hence his name is Buddha. (McBride 2012a, 105)

The theory of dependent arising from original nature emphasizes that all beings are manifestations of Buddha and have the potential to attain Buddhahood.

The Awakening of Faith in the Mahāyāna , one of the most influential Buddhist scriptures in East Asia, had a significant impact on Wŏnhyo’s philosophy of One Mind. This scripture expounds on the concept of the Tathāgatagarbha, aiming to reconcile the perspectives of the Mādhyamaka and the Yogācāra schools. The primary difference between these schools lies in their explanations of the nature of beings. All three teachings concur that beings exist temporarily as a result of causes and conditions, and none can be deemed to exist independently. The Mādhyamaka school posits that the nature of all beings is emptiness, implying their lack of inherent permanence. On the other hand, the Yogācāra school argues that all beings manifest through their storehouse consciousness, known as the eighth consciousness. However, the Tathāgatagarbha philosophy proposes that all beings possess the seed of the Buddha within them. This teaching later developed into the theory of Buddha nature.

The Awakening of Faith in the Mahāyāna introduces the concept of the One Mind (Ch. yixin ; K. ilsim , 一心) as a unifying framework for discussions on the human mind. According to this scripture, the One Mind encompasses all terminologies that describe the original nature and is equated with the mind of sentient beings. It is explained through two aspects and three greatnesses ( sanda , 三大). The One Mind embodies the aspects of suchness, aligning with the Mādhyamaka School’s understanding of the original nature as emptiness. It also encompasses the aspect of arising and ceasing, reflecting the manifestation of the storehouse consciousness through causes and conditions, in line with the Yogācāra School’s understanding of the original nature. The three greatnesses represent its essence, attributes, and function. This comprehensive understanding of the One Mind provides a holistic perspective on the nature of mind within the context of Mahāyāna Buddhism.

Using the insights gained from the Awakening of Faith in the Mahāyāna , Wŏnhyo was able to answer his three central questions that arose from studying Xunzang’s Yogācāra teachings: Can every being achieve enlightenment? Between the Mādhyamaka School and the Yogācāra School, which holds more accuracy? Is the One Mind a vessel of purity, impurity, or a composite of both? In response to the first question, Wŏnhyo maintained that all beings could achieve enlightenment, given that the One Mind contains the pure Buddha nature, but there could be rare exceptions. Regarding the second question, he considered the teachings of the Mādhyamaka School and the Yogācāra School to be equally valid since the Awakening of Faith in the Mahāyāna integrates their doctrines. As for the third question, he posited that the One Mind is inherently pure and transcends linguistic definition, although it could provisionally be described as a mixture of the tainted and the untainted.

Wŏnhyo’s responses to these questions led him to establish his One Mind philosophy, a name reflecting the profound depth of the involved concepts. “One” in this context denotes the One Mind’s transcendence over dualism, as it harmonizes all discourses without contradictions. “Mind”, on the other hand, implies that the One Mind possesses an indescribable intelligence (T1844, 206c–207a). All beings originate from and must return to the One Mind, marking it as an intrinsic part of all phenomena. Within this framework, Wŏnhyo systematically organized all terms pertaining to the mind. He categorized the true nature of all beings and the concept of suchness under the aspect of suchness. Similarly, he assigned the Buddha nature, the storehouse consciousness, the ninth pure consciousness, and the Buddha’s womb under the aspect of arising and ceasing (T1845, 227c).

Therefore, in Wŏnhyo’s One Mind philosophy, enlightenment is the act of returning to the One Mind. This can be achieved through the practice of the six paramitas—generosity, discipline, patience, diligence, meditative concentration, and wisdom—or by chanting to Amitābha with faith in the One Mind and the three Buddhist treasures: the Buddha, his teachings, and the Buddhist practitioners. To help more people return to the One Mind, Wŏnhyo suggested a practice of reciting the name of Amitābha, particularly for the illiterate population. He wandered through towns, reciting “Namu Amitabul” (meaning “I take refuge in Amitābha”) while tapping a wooden singing ball. The philosophy of the One Mind acknowledges the coexistence of the pure and impure minds within the One Mind. This insight underlines the human mind’s duality, containing both pure and impure aspects, and highlights the necessity for its cultivation.

Furthermore, Wŏnhyo utilized the One Mind concept as a foundational principle for harmony and reconciliation, from which he developed his unique theory of reconciliation, known as “ Hwajaeng”.

Reconciling Buddhist doctrines ( Hwajaeng , 和諍) is a theory founded by Wŏnhyo that represents a signature aspect of Korean Buddhism. It seeks to harmonize disputes within Buddhist doctrine, using key premises from the Mādhyamaka School and the Lotus sūtra.

The first premise is that all disputes arise from language. From his studies within the Mādhyamaka School, Wŏnhyo recognized the effects and limitations of language. This philosophy discerns two levels of truth: the conventional truth expressed in words, and the ineffable, ultimate truth. Language facilitates understanding, yet it fails to capture things in their entirety. Hence, teachings articulated through language cannot fully convey the complete truth of Buddhism. The second premise posits that all Buddhist schools encapsulate facets of Buddha’s teachings, regardless of the potential limitations of comprehension. This principle is inspired by the famous Lotus sūtra parable of the blind men and the elephant. In this parable, blind men each touch a part of an elephant, leading to varying interpretations of what the creature is. Wŏnhyo related this parable to Buddhist doctrinal disputes, viewing each school as recognizing only part of Buddha’s teachings while insisting that their interpretation was the sole correct one. With these principles as the foundation, Wŏnhyo developed his harmonization theory, known as “ hwajaeng ”, advocating for non-attachment to any particular doctrine. Free from polarization, he scrutinized each doctrine’s internal validity and legitimacy through a stance of non-obstruction, neither affirming nor denying any. He saw doctrinal disputes from Buddha’s higher perspective, transforming them into diverse facets of a unified body of teaching without any classification.

Interpretations of Wŏnhyo’s hwajaeng philosophy have evolved over time in the historical context of Korea. The first association of Wŏnhyo’s name with the hwajaeng concept was documented in the writings of Ŭich’ŏn (義天, 1055–1101 CE), who sought to unify Buddhist doctrine and practice during the Koryŏ dynasty. Under Japanese occupation, Wŏnhyo’s hwajaeng philosophy became associated with Unified Buddhism ( Tongbulgyo ), a characteristic unique to Korean Buddhism. This Unified Buddhism, perceived as a complete form of Buddhism integrating all Buddhist teachings, was employed to foster pride in Korean Buddhism by positioning it above other regional Buddhist traditions. After the liberation, the meaning of “ hwajaeng ” in Korea has transitioned from “unification” to “reconciliation,” mirroring the societal shift from an authoritarian to a more pluralistic Korean society. In contemporary times, Wŏnhyo’s hwajaeng philosophy is suggested as a potential remedy for conflict resolution and social polarization.

In the seventh century, Sŏn (Ch. Chan , Jp. Zen ) Buddhism was introduced to the Shilla Kingdom. Instead of elaborate rituals and complex doctrines, it offered a simple meditation practice. Chan Buddhism put forward the idea of realizing Buddhahood, which is the attainment of enlightenment. According to Chan Buddhism, all sentient beings possess Buddha nature and have the potential to become a Buddha. Buddha nature is not merely a seed of potential to become a Buddha, but the true mind of all beings. Therefore, Mazu Daoyi (709–788), the eighth patriarch in Chinese Chan, advocated the belief that the “Ordinary mind is the Way” and “This mind is Buddha.”

Mazu Sŏn found favor among the ruling provincial class ( hojok ) in Shilla since the ninth century (Huh: 2005: 32–33). His teaching has notable similarities with the doctrinal Huayan School, both of which were founded on the Tathāgatagarbha teaching and upheld the purity of the human mind. Mazu Chan emphasized practice and sudden enlightenment, urging practitioners to see all beings as manifestations of Buddha nature and their own minds as the Buddha mind.

3. Buddhism During the Koryŏ Dynasty

Throughout the Koryŏ dynasty, Buddhism assimilated into Korean culture, establishing its place in the people’s everyday lives. It embraced indigenous deity worship and adapted Buddhist rituals, particularly by blending with mountain god worship. Performing rites for life events—such as births, funerals, and ancestor worship—became an integral function of Buddhism. However, despite its crucial role in Korean society, Buddhism lost its dominant status by the end of the Koryŏ dynasty, with Neo-Confucianism emerging as the preferred philosophy.

3.1 Unification of Buddhist teachings

Two prominent monks proposed the way to unify Buddhist teachings, especially between doctrinal school and Sŏn Buddhism. Ŭich’ŏn advocated for the harmony of doctrines and practices and is known for achieving unification from a doctrinal perspective. On the other hand, Chinul advocated for a Sŏn approach to unify practice and Hwaŏm doctrine.

Ŭich’ŏn, who studied Hwaŏm (Ch. Huayan) and Ch’ŏnt’ae (Ch. Tiantai; Jp. Tendai) Buddhism in Korea and China, established the Ch’ŏnt’ae school in Koryŏ. His arguments for harmonization drew from the teachings of Chengguan (738–839 CE), Wŏnhyo, and Zongmi (780–841 CE).

Upon his return from China, Ŭich’ŏn observed that the teachings of Hwaŏm and Ch’ŏnt’ae bore considerable similarities and explored the shared elements between them. Influenced by Chengguan, he proposed that the taxonomies used by both schools were identical (Lee 2002: 153–155). While Tiantai classified Buddhist teachings into five periods and eight teachings, Huayan divided them into five teachings. Tiantai’s classification integrated three standard categorizations. The fifth period is based on the evolving times of teaching. One pair of the four teachings was categorized by teaching method, the other by content type. Chengguan compared Huayan’s five teachings and Tiantai’s four teachings by content type and pointed out that Huayan’s five teachings included an additional one: the sudden enlightenment doctrine. Except for this additional teaching, the classifications used by both schools matched. While Tiantai’s taxonomy did not explicitly include the sudden enlightenment doctrine, as it was already incorporated in its teachings, the Huayan school emphasized Chan practice in its classification. Ŭich’ŏn also linked Hwaŏm’s three contemplations to the taxonomy, arguing that both schools proposed that all phenomena were interconnected, and the entire world could be perceived in all phenomena.

Although Ŭich’ŏn initially advocated for the study of various Buddhist doctrines, he did not imply that all teachings were equally beneficial for study. Later, influenced by Wŏnhyo’s hwajaeng philosophy, his perspective evolved, and he sought to harmonize all Buddhist teachings and treat them with equal regard. Upon establishing the Ch’ŏnt’ae school, Ŭich’ŏn introduced Wŏnhyo as Korea’s first Ch’ŏnt’ae scholar and extolled him as the master of hwajaeng . He also recognized Chegwan (諦觀, died 970 CE) as the second Ch’ŏnt’ae scholar. A Koryŏ monk who had studied in China, Chegwan wrote an influential introductory book on the Ch’ŏnt’ae school, Essentials of the Four Stages of Teaching of Ch’ŏnt’ae ( Ch’ŏnt’ae sagyoŭi , 天台四敎儀), summarizing the core teachings of Ch’ŏnt’ae.

Ŭich’ŏn considered Zongmi as the epitome of reconciling doctrinal teaching and Sŏn practice perfectly. He believed that the Sŏn and doctrinal schools held equal importance and were compatible. While the Sŏn school eschewed language, the doctrinal schools embraced it. These contrasting stances had their respective merits and flaws, rendering them complementary. Furthermore, adopting Zongmi’s perspective, Ŭich’ŏn sought commonalities between Confucianism and Daoism. Despite their differences with Buddhism, he observed that all three philosophies addressed filial piety. Consequently, he sought to harmonize these philosophies under a single system, scrutinizing their shared idea.

Chinul, one of the most influential Buddhist philosophers in Korea, pursued a reconciliation of meditation and doctrine by identifying their shared ground. He considered meditation, namely Sŏn, and doctrine, specifically Hwaŏm teaching, as two distinct pathways leading to enlightenment.

Chinul’s approach to unifying practice and doctrine was inspired by Zongmi, although he developed his own variations. Zongmi categorized Chan Buddhism and doctrinal Buddhism into three levels each and unified them on each level. In other words, the first level of Chan aligned with the first level of doctrinal school, and so forth. Contrarily, Chinul did not adhere to this three-tiered classification of Sŏn Buddhism. Instead, he categorized Sŏn Buddhism based on whether it discussed sudden enlightenment, resulting in two classification levels. Then, he unified only the practice based on sudden enlightenment and the doctrine of perfect teachings. This was because both incorporated two ways of explaining enlightenment: the negative way and the affirmative way. The negative way outlined the limits of language and thought and revealed the nature of the mind. The affirmative way perceived the mind as the essence of all beings and demonstrated the mind’s role in creating things through dependent origination. While Zongmi used these approaches to explain doctrinal teachings, Chinul employed them to harmonize Sŏn and perfect teaching. Sŏn Buddhism primarily employs the negative way to challenge the boundaries of thought and the positive way to emphasize the potency of the mind’s nature. Perfect teaching, particularly the Xingqi theory in Hwaŏm, elucidated the tranquil nature and its dependent origination of all beings. Essentially, Chinul found that the Xingqi in Hwaŏm teachings aligned with the Sŏn teaching that each individual’s mind is the Buddha’s mind. Based on this discovery, he proposed that doctrinal teaching represented the word of Buddha while meditational teaching embodied the mind of Buddha.

In Koryŏ Buddhism, Buddhist philosophers consistently sought to integrate opposing teachings into a unified understanding of Buddhism. This unification process blurred the lines among Buddhist schools in Korea and, along with the political context of the time, contributed to the gradual unification of Korean Buddhism.

During the mid-Koryŏ Dynasty, Chinul introduced a new form of practice called Kanhwa Sŏn, which became the primary practice in Korean Sŏn Buddhism. Considered the founder of the Chogye Order, the most significant Buddhist sect in contemporary Korea, Chinul’s practice embodied several characteristics. Key among these were the concepts of “void and calm, numinous awareness” (K. Kongjŏkyŏngji , 空寂靈知), “sudden enlightenment followed by gradual cultivation”, and the “dual practice of samādhi and prajñāna (K. Chŏnghyessangsu , 定慧雙修)”.

Sŏn Buddhism asserts that Buddha nature represents the true self of all beings, thus advocating for the realization of one’s nature, or in other words, “seeing your true self.” In this context, individuals have a personal self, but beyond that, there exists a real self, identified as suchness or Buddha. The Buddha mind is regarded as one’s nature, therefore all human perceptions and actions can be seen as manifestations of the Buddha nature. This teaching provides hope for universal salvation, but it simultaneously poses a question: why can’t ordinary people perceive the Buddha nature? In his work Secrets on Cultivating the Mind ( Susimkyyŏl , 修心訣), Chinul provided an answer: just as we cannot see our own body, we cannot perceive the Buddha nature because we are immersed in it and it resides within us (Chinul SW: 208). This Buddha nature is recognized through “the mind of void and calm, numinous awareness.” The term “void and calm” suggests that the mind is insubstantial and reflects all things, similar to a placid lake. “Numinous awareness” involves self-contemplation, illumination of the Buddha nature, and the ability to respond to the interconnected world. The concept “the mind of void and calm, numinous awareness” corresponds to the subjective aspect of the Buddha mind, while the objective aspect is associated with Buddha nature. While these are not existentially divided, they are conceptually separated in the context of the principle of dependent origination. This pure and authentic mind is also referred to as the “original face” (K. pollae myŏnmok , 本來面目) in the Sŏn tradition. When compared to Zongmi’s concept of “original enlightenment and true mind” (Ch. Benjuezhenxin , 本覺眞心 ) referring to the pure mind, the terminology used by Chinul offers a more detailed portrayal of the characteristics of the true mind.

The debate between sudden enlightenment and gradual cultivation was a pivotal discussion in Chan Buddhism. Advocates from the Southern Chan school argued for sudden enlightenment, claiming that this immediate insight was sufficient, and no additional cultivation was required. Conversely, the Northern Chan school supported the practice of gradual cultivation, considering the human mind to be inherently pure but enshrouded by defilement that necessitated gradual removal for enlightenment. Chinul, adopting Zongmi’s approach, advocated for a dual practice of sudden enlightenment followed by gradual cultivation. He suggested that gradual cultivation after sudden enlightenment is necessary to prevent habitual actions’ recurrence and thoroughly eliminate defilements. He defined true cultivation as a process of cultivation without cultivating anything (Chinul SW: 227). This implies that, after sudden enlightenment, one realizes that deluded thoughts are essentially void, leaving no tangible defilement to be removed. Consequently, the cultivation process progresses without attachment, meaning the practitioner cultivates without clinging to the idea of eradication.

Chinul emphasized the dual practice of samādhi and prajñāna, the two pillars of meditation. Samādhi, or concentration meditation, guides the mind into a calm state, while prajñāna, or insight meditation, enables the mind to see things as they truly are. Without samādhi, insight cannot perceive things clearly, and without prajñāna, concentration cannot entirely eradicate defilements. Additionally, he expanded their interpretations, linking samādhi to Sŏn practice and prajñāna to doctrinal teaching, thereby fusing Sŏn and Hwaŏm in his practice. He further corresponded those practices to the essence and function (Chinul SW: 230). The essence is samādhi and the function is prajñāna. As essence and function are inseparable, so those two practices are inseparable, too. The balance between these two practices was pivotal in Chinul’s teaching, as demonstrated by his three approaches to Sŏn practice: “equal maintenance of quiescence and alertness” (K. sŏngjŏktŭngji , 惺寂等持), “faith and understanding according to the complete and sudden teaching” (K. wŏndonshinhae , 圓頓信解), and “shortcut” (K. kyŏngjŏl , 徑截). “Equal maintenance of quiescence and alertness” refers to the dual practice of Samādhi and prajñāna. “Faith and understanding according to the complete and sudden teaching” connected to the equal practice of Sŏn and Hwaŏm’s doctrinal teaching. Complete teaching refers to Hwaŏm teaching, and sudden teaching is Sŏn. The shortcut is Kanhwa Sŏn (Ch. Kanhua Chan, 看話禪) practice, leading to enlightenment directly.

Originating from Dahui zonggao (1089–1163), Kanhua Chan practice concentrates on gongan (K. kongan , Jp. kōan ), words extracted from Chan dialogues. When implemented in practice, gongan is referred to as huatou (K. hwadu , Jp. watō ). In his Treatise on Resolving Doubt About Observing the Keyword ( Kanhwak yŏlŭilon 看話決疑論), Chinul advocated for this practice, deeming it the most effective way to liberate from the maladies in the conceptual understanding of the Buddhist truth (Chinul SW: 317). Even though doctrinal principles convey profound and sublime teachings, they are nonetheless constrained by language. The Sŏn tradition recognizes the limitations of language, which naturally creates a dichotomy between subject and object, leading to a dualistic framework. Chinul was aware of this dichotomy and distinguished between two aspects of hwadu: investigating the meaning (K. ch’amŭi , 參意) and investigating the word (K. ch’amgu , 參句). Investigating the meaning involves interpreting hwadu within a doctrinal context, while investigating the word utilizes hwadu to liberate oneself from conceptual knowledge. These two methods are also related to two types of hwadu , namely, the living word (K. hwalgu ) and the dead word (K. sagu ). The living word facilitates the practitioner’s return to the original state of emptiness, thus freeing them from the preconceived notions created by linguistic structures. Conversely, the dead word represents the opposite process.

Chinul’s practice framework predominantly rests on the principle of sudden enlightenment, understood as the realization of one’s Buddha nature. To engage in this practice, a practitioner should first firmly believe in their inherent Buddhahood. Following this, the Kanhwa Sŏn practice enables practitioners to experience the Buddha within themselves, leading to gradual cultivation. This grounding in the balance of two forms of meditation allows practitioners to perceive the two facets of Buddha nature: its calmness and its colorful arising. This gradual cultivation aims to eliminate defilements completely. Since Chinul’s time, this approach combining sudden enlightenment and gradual cultivation, with the addition of Kanhwa Sŏn practice as a shortcut, has been considered the standard practice in Korean Sŏn Buddhism. This synthesis is the hallmark of Chinul’s practice system.

During the Koryŏ dynasty, Korean Buddhism blurred its boundaries by unifying various Buddhist teachings in one system, and Korean Sŏn Buddhism finished forming its theoretical system and characteristics.

4. Conversations between Buddhism and Neo-Confucianism in the Chosŏn Dynasty

The Chosŏn Dynasty marked a challenging period for Korean Buddhism. The ruling Neo-Confucian scholars criticized and suppressed Buddhism for its perceived corruption and its teachings that opposed Confucian values. In response, Buddhists emphasized the similarities between Buddhism and Neo-Confucianism and embraced Confucian ethics, including principles of loyalty and filial piety.

Criticism of Buddhism from Neo-Confucian scholars began in the late Koryŏ Dynasty when corruption within Buddhism started to be taken seriously. A notable critic was Chŏng Tojŏn (1342–1398 CE), a founding figure of the Chosŏn Dynasty. In his work An Array of Critiques of Buddhism ( Pulssi jappyŏn , 佛氏雜辨), he voiced his objections to both the philosophy and practices of Buddhism. In response to these critiques, Buddhist monk Hamhŏ Tŭkt’ong (涵虛得通, 1376–1433 CE) penned The Exposition of Orthodoxy ( Hyŏnjŏngnon , 顯正論), aiming to address misunderstandings about Buddhism among Neo-Confucian scholars. While they never directly debated, these two works highlight the points of contention and defense regarding Buddhism during the Chosŏn Dynasty.

Chŏng believed Buddhist philosophy is inherently illogical, and its religious practice hurts Confucian values. His criticisms extended to various aspects of Buddhist doctrines, including transmigration, Karma, mind and nature, and ethical principles.

Regarding the concept of transmigration, Chŏng argued from a Confucian perspective that once the soul combines with Yin and Yang and separates into heaven and earth after death, it can never reunite, rendering rebirth impossible. He used the analogy of water drawn from a well, which, once taken, cannot return to the well. Additionally, Chŏng challenged the concept of transmigration by stating that, if it were true, the number of beings in the world would always be the same, while the total number of lives changes in real-world circumstances. In discussing the causes and effects of Karma, he argued that people’s fortune and misfortune are decided by timing, not only by cause and effect. He likened this to the process of making liquor, which only develops a good taste when the mixture of ingredients has had sufficient time to ferment.

Chŏng also highlights the inconsistency within Buddhist teachings concerning the relationship between the mind and the nature (K. sŏng , 性). From his Neo-Confucian perspective, nature represents the principle given by heaven, while mind is formed by material force (K. ki ) encompassing both nature and emotion (K. jŏng ). With this foundation, he criticizes Buddhism for its perceived internal contradiction in equating the mind with nature. He began by pointing out conflicting definitions of these concepts within Buddhist scriptures, where the mind and nature were both equated and differentiated. Delusion was associated with the mind, while awakening was linked to nature. Chŏng also took issue with phrases such as “Observe the mind and see nature” and “Mind is none other than nature” (Chŏng CB: 60) arguing that they created a logical fallacy similar to attempting to eat one’s own mouth.

Furthermore, Chŏng criticized two Buddhist arguments: “functional activity is the nature” and “mind and its trace”. Sŏn Buddhist masters would assert that all human activities were manifestations of the Buddha nature. Chŏng questioned this perspective, suggesting that if one accepted Buddhism’s idea, then acts such as killing others could be labeled as the functional activity of nature. In his Neo-Confucian philosophy, nature represented a pure moral principle-centered in mind, which interacted with external stimuli. Therefore, he believed that Buddhism’s argument was flawed. Regarding the concept of the mind and its trace, he critiqued Buddhism for separating them, citing a Buddhist sentence: “If the bodhisattva Mañjuśrī wanders taverns, his behavior is wrong, but his mind is right” (Chŏng CB: 64, 121). In his perspective, the mind equated to essence (K. che ) and trace represented function (K. yong ), making them inseparable.

Chŏng also offers a critique of the metaphysical foundations of Buddhism. Citing Buddhist teachings that state, “Good and evil are from mind. The myriad of phenomena is nothing but consciousness”, he argues that this viewpoint portrays the phenomenal world as an illusory creation of consciousness and mind, devoid of a solid foundation. Consequently, he asserts that such a perspective hinders the objective assessment of good or bad behavior based on moral principles called nature.

In terms of Buddhist practice, Chŏng, along with other Confucian scholars, thinks that Buddhism’s promotion of renunciation of familial ties and indiscriminate compassion were particularly problematic. Monks’ abandonment of their families and their celibacy contradicted Confucian values, which placed great importance on marriage and procreation as forms of filial piety. Additionally, Buddhism’s universal compassion conflicted with Confucianism’s emphasis on distinguishing between family and others. Chŏng also pointed out that monks, in their indiscriminate compassion, were even willing to sacrifice their bodies to leopards, behavior that he considered a violation of the practice of filial piety. In summary, Chŏng Tojŏn’s critique aimed to reveal weaknesses in the Buddhist moral framework.

In defense of Buddhism, Hamhŏ Tŭkt’ong maintained that Buddhism and Confucianism were not fundamentally different. Regarding the topics of transmigration and karma, Hamhŏ emphasized that these teachings motivate individuals to willingly engage in good actions rather than bad ones. Additionally, these teachings promote the importance of emotional control, which fosters self-discipline and encourages virtuous deeds.

While he did not directly comment on the relationship between the mind and nature, he viewed the mind as more than just an illusory empty entity; instead, he saw it as an active and luminous entity, somewhat akin to the Confucian concept of “bright virtue”, which is a characteristic of one’s nature. He also explained the interplay between nature and emotion as a relationship between essence and function. According to his perspective, nature and emotion are distinct, with a deluded nature giving rise to emotions. Much like Neo-Confucian scholars, he regarded nature as the pure aspect and emotions as the impure aspect that arises in relation to external stimuli.

When addressing practical ethical issues such as monk celibacy and universal compassion, Hamhŏ argued that the choice of monkhood could provide significant benefits not only to the monks themselves but also to their parents, family members, and even the nation. He contended that it represented the highest form of practicing filial piety and loyalty. Additionally, he equated Confucian virtues, including benevolence, justice, propriety, wisdom, and trust, with Buddhism’s precepts against killing, theft, sexual misconduct, alcohol consumption, and lying. Hamhŏ Tŭkt’ong’s approach to reconciling Buddhism and Neo-Confucianism continued to exert influence on Buddhist philosophy in Chosŏn.

During the later period of the Chosŏn Dynasty, the discourse seeking harmony between Buddhism and Confucianism gained more popularity. Although Confucian scholars recognized the similarities between the two—both addressing the nature of the mind and advocating for a simple life—they maintained criticisms of Buddhism. During this period of Buddhist suppression, a monk named Hŏŭngdang Bowoo (虛應堂 普雨 died 1565 CE), who was instrumental in Buddhism’s restoration, endeavored to harmonize the two philosophies. He equated Buddhist teachings with other teachings through the Flower Garland sūtra, asserting that both Confucianism and Daoism were applications of this sūtra. Bowoo attempted to explain Buddhist teaching through Confucian concepts and views in his book, The Treaties of One Rightness (Ilchŏngnon , 一正論). The title, “One,” signifies the origin of all beings and the cause of all change, correlating with the principle of heaven in Neo-Confucianism. All beings exist by obtaining the principle of heaven, which also facilitates the changes of the four seasons. “Rightness” refers to the pure, untainted mind of Buddhism and the right status of the human mind according to Confucianism. This righteous state encompasses Confucian elements of morality: the sense of compassion, shame, respect, and the discernment of right and wrong. Here, “One” also represents the world, and “Rightness” implies the human mind. Consequently, Bowoo asserts that these two become one, resulting in a unity of the world and the human mind. He expanded his argument by acknowledging that even though the human mind is connected to the principle of heaven, it is still influenced by material force, which can tarnish the human mind. Thus, he proposed the practice of Confucian methods such as reverence and extending knowledge as a means of purification.

Commonly, the concept of mind, nature, principle, and supreme ultimate (Ch. taiji ; K. t’aegŭk ) were employed to compare the two teachings. Over time, both Confucian scholars and Buddhist monks agreed on the similarity of the two teachings concerning mind cultivation and self-discipline. Although Buddhism was suppressed during this period, friendships between Confucian scholars and Buddhist monks led to mutual studies and deeper understanding.

5. The Response of Korean Buddhism to Modern Times

In modern times, Koreans encountered Western philosophy and Christianity. This encounter led to an assumption that traditional Asian elements, including Buddhism, might be considered irrelevant on the path to modern nationhood. Modernization in Korea was frequently synonymous with Westernization. Faced with this shift in perspective, Korean intellectuals embarked on a reevaluation of Buddhism’s role in a modern, Western-influenced society.

In pursuit of this reevaluation, they posed several crucial questions: Is Buddhism worthy of preservation? To what genre does Buddhism belong in Western academic classification? What are the similarities and the differences between Buddhism and Western thought? How can Buddhist philosophy contribute to the future world?

Moreover, the colonial and postcolonial reality significantly influenced the perception and development of modern Korean Buddhism, prompting greater engagement with social issues than during the Chosŏn period.

5.1 Investigating the value of Buddhist philosophy in the modern era

Korean Buddhists, much like other East Asian Buddhist intellectuals, have undertaken efforts to interpret Buddhism within the framework of Western thought. One of the issues they grapple with is the differentiation between religion and philosophy in Western discourse, a distinction that does not exist in Eastern discourse. Consequently, East Asian Buddhist intellectuals, including Koreans, have proposed that Buddhism encompasses both religious and philosophical elements. Depending on the individual intellectuals, they may have differing perspectives on these two aspects of Buddhism.

For instance, Paek Yongsŏng, a Buddhist monk and reformer, places emphasis on Buddhism as a religion. Han Yongun (1879–1944), a writer and reformer, directs his focus toward its philosophical elements. Yi Jongch’ŏn, a scholar who studied under Inoue Enryō at Tokyo University, regards the doctrinal teachings of Buddhism as philosophical elements, while considering the practice of Buddhism as the religious component (Yi 1918: 35–36). On the other hand, Paek Sŏnguk, the first Korean to study philosophy in Germany, argues that Buddhism is a religion founded on philosophy. In his article titled “Buddhist Metaphysics,” he asserts that Buddhism is philosophy because it objectively studies truth obtained from reality, and it is religion because it involves the worship of various deities (Paek 1925: 21–22).

In the late 1910s and the 1920s, Korean Buddhist philosophers, under the influence of Inoue Enryō (井上 円了 1858–1919), began to view Buddhist philosophy as metaphysics. Inoue, the most influential philosopher for East Asian intellectuals at the time, described Buddhist philosophy as pure philosophy, examining the essence of the universe and the principles of truth, aligning with German idealism. Consequently, Korean Buddhist philosophers delved into metaphysical issues, such as the relationship between phenomena ( dharma ) and the actual reality of all phenomena (suchness, Skt. Bhūtakoṭi ). The term “actual reality of all phenomena” corresponds to the concept of essence in Western philosophy. In the context of Buddhist philosophy, it refers to truth, the ultimate culmination for all beings and a representation of things as they are. Kim Ch’ŏlu, a Buddhist scholar, explores the non-dualism within Buddhist metaphysics. Kim asserts,

Buddhism’s primary principle is that phenomena are the actual reality of all phenomena. Less developed religions separate the actual reality of phenomena from phenomena, thus failing to explain the relationship between the actual reality of phenomena and human beings. Buddhism, as an advanced religion, proposes the unity of phenomena and the actual reality of phenomena, elucidating that all phenomena constitute the actual reality of phenomena. (Kim 1919: 53)

Furthermore, Paek Sŏnguk delves into the dynamic tension within the actual reality of phenomena, which conveys the concept of Buddha as the ultimate universal truth. This universal truth can be dissected into object and subject when examined in relation to dharma. In this context, Buddha serves as the inherent subject in the truth, and this perspective stands in contrast to that of Nishida Kitaro (西田幾多郞, 1870–1945), a prominent philosopher of the Kyoto school. Nishida highlights the concept of absolute emptiness that transcends divisions between subjects and objects, asserting that it is the only reality where separated beings can unite.

During this era, social evolution theory emerged as a prevailing intellectual trend, asserting that all cultures must progress, and only those that advance and adapt can survive. In this context, Han Yongun took on the challenge of demonstrating the relevance of Buddhism by identifying its modern elements. He discovered thoughts of free will and egalitarianism in Buddhist teachings and argued that Buddhism held the potential to contribute to a better world than social evolution theory would.

Drawing inspiration from the works of Liang Qichao (1873–1929), a prominent modern Chinese thinker (Han 2016: 105–108), Han Yongun equated free will with the Buddhist concept of suchness, the true nature of all beings. In comparing Kant’s philosophy with Buddhism, Liang Qichao interpreted suchness as the moral subject possessing free will, whereas the state of ignorance prior to enlightenment reflects the absence of free will. Liang further argued that while Kant’s moral subject pertained to individuals, Buddha’s suchness applied universally to all human beings. Han Yongun embraced this interpretation, using it as a basis to assert Buddhism’s superiority over Western philosophy. It is worth noting that a similar idea regarding the power of the human mind had been previously mentioned in Korean Buddhist philosophy.

Moreover, Han Yongun characterized Buddhism as embodying egalitarian principles. Within Buddhist philosophy, two worlds exist: the world of conventional truth and the world of ultimate truth. The former, which emerges from the principle of cause and effect, holds a variety of distinct beings. Conversely, the world of ultimate truth represents the inherent nature of all beings, manifesting itself as pure emptiness. Building upon this philosophical foundation, he articulated,

Looking from the viewpoint of inequality, there is nothing that is not unequal, but from the viewpoint of equality, there is nothing that is not equal. What, then, is inequality? It refers to the fact that all things and phenomena are subject to the laws of necessity. What does equality mean? It refers to the free, unconstrained truth that transcends time and space. (Han 2016: 112–113)

In this manner, Han Yongun modernized the interpretation of Buddhist teachings. Furthermore, he postulated that the future would be a Buddhist world because its foundational teachings guarantee freedom for all beings in an egalitarian setting. Later, he integrated socialist ideas into his concept of egalitarianism, envisioning a form of Buddhist socialism.

In response to the competition posed by Christian missionary works, Paek Yongsŏng (1864–1940) embarked on a comparative analysis between Christianity and Buddhism with the aim of demonstrating the superiority of Buddhism (Paek 2016). He argued that Christianity lacked a comprehensive understanding of the mind, even though it shared similarities with the concept of a fair exchange of good deeds and their rewards. Expanding on this viewpoint, he critiqued the notion of God as a separate creator distinct from his creations. According to Buddhist philosophy, the original mind gives rise to all beings, and that Buddha’s mind resides within the minds of individuals. He also criticized the idea of divine punishment for original sin, as it seemed harsh for a creator to chastise individuals after permitting them to err.

Amid the effort to align Buddhism with Western thought, there emerged a movement to preserve traditional Korean Buddhism and rediscover Korea’s distinct identity. Monk Sŏkjŏn (1870–1948) started teaching Buddhist classics to individuals passionate about Korean studies and the essence of Korea’s spirit. Among his students, Ch’oe Namsŏn (1890–1957) wrote two articles delineating the identity of Korean Buddhism: “Overview of Korean Buddhism: A Diachronic Approach to Korean Buddhism” (1918) and “Korean Buddhism: Its Position in the Cultural History of the East” (1930). Through these works, he emphasizes that Korean monks played an active and significant role in the evolution of Buddhism in East Asia, rather than merely assimilating Chinese Buddhism. He asserts that Korean Buddhism surpassed other East Asian forms of Buddhism, both in its philosophical depth and artistic expression.

Ch’oe Namsŏn gives special attention to the Hwajaeng philosophy of Wŏnhyo, which encapsulates all Buddhist teachings and practices as one. He dubbed this form of Buddhism as “unified Buddhism”, “completed Buddhism”, or “synthesis Buddhism”, asserting it as the distinctive identity of Korean Buddhism. Ch’oe’s arguments continued to be well-received by Korean Buddhist scholars even after Korea’s liberation, leading to “Unified Buddhism” being perceived as a defining characteristic of Korean Buddhism. This view persisted until 1985 when it was questioned by Shim Jaeryong (Shim 1999: 171–181).

In response to modernization, Korean Buddhism pursued preservation and reform strategies. Monk Sŏkjŏn and Ch’oe Namsŏn emphasized its distinctive identity, positioning “Unified Buddhism” as a uniquely Korean concept. Meanwhile, Han Yongun and Paek Yongsŏng strove to modernize Buddhism, incorporating Western thought and advocating its popularization. Korean Buddhist intellectuals explored metaphysical aspects in Buddhism. These collective efforts have embedded Korean Buddhism within the modern era.

5.2 Popularizing Buddhism

The essence of modernity lies in its emancipation from mysticism, embracing human reason and the growth of individual rights. These notions also resonated with the transformation of Korean Buddhism during this period. Most laypeople of that era predominantly engaged in offering prayers to Buddhist deities for their well-being, a practice considered incompatible with the ideals of modernity. Consequently, Buddhist intellectuals began to emphasize individual practices for enlightenment and the development of more accessible daily-life practices, while also directing their attention to pressing social issues.

Paek Yongsŏng identified enlightenment as the unique and pivotal aspect of Buddhist thought, aiming to reestablish its original intent in the lives of laypeople. Rooted in Sŏn Buddhism, “enlightenment” denoted the realization of one’s intrinsic Buddhahood. Great enlightenment, in this context, signifies the attainment of the original nature of the human mind—Buddha nature. According to Paek, all individuals should attain this realization and assist others in doing the same. The attainment of enlightenment serves as a means for individuals to discover their own identities and inner strength. To popularize this notion, he established the Order of Great Enlightenment ( Daekakgyo ) in 1922 and initiated the Daegak school movement, offering meditation classes to laypeople, which was previously unavailable to the public.

However, their commitment extended beyond personal enlightenment, as they emphasized social engagement rooted in the Buddhist teaching of “saving sentient beings.” Paek Yongsŏng and Han Yongun were not just theorists but also activists who actively participated in social movements, such as the independence movement. While Han Yongun was intrigued by social Buddhism, he didn’t develop his own comprehensive theory. In contrast, Paek Sŏnguk expanded his philosophical journey to include social theory. After a thorough examination of cosmology, he posited that a single principle ( illi ) constructed the cosmos. Applying this principle to the human world, he argued that it could transform this impure land into Pure Land (Paek 2021: 81).

According to Paek, this principle applied to three aspects of human life: in legal life, it dictated the rules of human communities; in economic life, it ensured fair distribution; and in spiritual life, it bestowed meaningful existence. Paek contended that each facet of life should maintain its boundaries and balance, with spiritual life taking the lead. An excessive focus on legal life might suppress economic equality and individual freedom, while an overemphasis on economic life could turn humans into mere working machines. If spiritual life remained intertwined with the other spheres, it might disrupt the intended direction, ultimately benefiting humanity and guiding a more humane existence. In his social theory, Paek Sŏnguk effectively fused Hwaŏm Buddhist philosophy with modern social theory.

Won Buddhism, a relatively modern Buddhist movement, was founded by Park Jungbin (1891–1943), who later came to be known as Sot’aesan. Interestingly, Park did not undergo formal training in the Buddhist tradition; instead, his connection to Buddhism emerged after enlightenment, which he recognized as akin to the descriptions of enlightenment found in Buddhism. Won Buddhism predominantly embraces Buddhist teachings but reformulates them in a manner that is more accessible to laypeople. Central to its philosophy is the belief that Buddhism should transcend distinctions between Buddhist clergy and lay practitioners, as well as between Buddha and sentient beings. The doctrinal foundation of Won Buddhism is articulated in the Scripture of Won Buddhism ( Wŏnbulgyo kyojŏn ).

At the core of Won Buddhism’s doctrinal framework lies the concept of the “One Circle Form” ( irwŏnsang ), symbolizing the dharmakaya Buddha, which represents the essence of all beings and Buddhas, as well as Buddha nature. This concept is depicted in a circular form because it signifies the perpetual transformation between being and non-being, revealing their inherent emptiness and completeness. The ultimate objective of Won Buddhism is to attain Buddhahood, aligning with the aspirations of other Buddhist traditions. To achieve this enlightenment, Sot’aesan introduced the framework of four beneficent sources of human life and three practices. The four beneficent sources are heaven and earth, parents, brethren, and law, as they grant life and support one’s existence. The three core practices in Won Buddhism mirror the traditional Buddhist triad of samādhi, wisdom, and precepts. These practices are structured as follows: cultivation of the spirit ( chŏngsin suyang ), inquiry into facts and principles ( sari yŏn’gu ), and careful selection of karmic actions ( chagŏp ch’wisa ).

These practices are adapted from the foundational principles of Buddhism and serve as a guide for spiritual development. In daily life, practitioners are encouraged to engage in regular meditation referred to as “timeless Zen” ( Musisŏppob ) and adhere to the nine essential dharmas of daily practice, aimed at dispelling afflictions. Among these nine rules, three correspond to the fundamental practices mentioned earlier, emphasizing the transformation of negative mindsets into positive virtues, including belief, zeal, dedication, gratitude, self-reliance, and goodwill.

In the 1980s, Minjung Buddhism emerged as part of the Minjung movement in South Korea, a social movement dedicated to the liberation of the “ minjung ”. The term “ minjung ”, which means “common people”, refers to those who are oppressed by the ruling class but who nonetheless have the potential to become agents in shaping history. Alongside Minjung movement activists, young Buddhists established the Minjung Buddhism Society in 1975. Chŏn Jaesŏng wrote “The Theory of Minjung Buddhism” and published it in the journal Dialogue ( Daehwa ) in 1977. Although the article did not present intense, argumentative discourse, it did introduce the basic principles of Minjung Buddhism and encouraged young Buddhists to participate in the Minjung Buddhist movement.

Minjung Buddhists derived their theoretical framework from Buddhist philosophy, adapted via Marxist theory. They sought a Buddhist teaching that resonated with Marxist ideology and found numerous similarities between Marxism and early Buddhism. Both systems embrace atheism, materialism, empiricism, and egalitarianism. Early Buddhism explained the world without reference to gods, depicted matter as the basis of human existence, emphasized empiricism, and advocated for egalitarian communities of monks akin to the primitive communities described by Marx. A Buddhist monk, Pŏpsŏng, brought together the varied threads of Minjung Buddhist philosophical discourse and highlighted how Minjung Buddhism reinterpreted fundamental Buddhist concepts to reveal the revolutionary characteristics of Buddhism. The concepts included dependent arising, karma, and Pure Land, with all new interpretations pointing towards emphasizing the self-reliance of the minjung.

The principle of dependent arising supports the social engagement of Buddhism. It situates each individual’s life in the broader scope of history and reveals history to be a tapestry woven from the threads of individual lives. Additionally, one’s deeds and social activities lead to social change because people and society are interconnected. This new interpretation formed the basis for the argument that the minjung has the capacity to promote change.

Minjung Buddhists also understood karma as people’s creative activity that shapes the world and transforms themselves. Utilizing the concept of “karma,” they emphasized human self-reliance, asserting that without human action or karma, no change or revolution can occur. They drew parallels between the Marxist concept of “motion”, a fundamental principle in dialectical materialism that denotes the continuous change in the world and human thought, and karma. They proposed that the motion of the world is a universal principle and karma embodies this principle in humans. That is, karma is the expression of human engagement with the world, and it constitutes a part of the world’s overall motion. One’s past karma influences the present, and present karma molds the future, implying that the entire world is shaped by the power of karma. The emphasis on human self-reliance in the concept of karma is strongly tied to the idea of the minjung, which signifies not just oppressed but also agents of historical and social change. Both Minjung Buddhism and Minjung theology highlight the potential of the minjung to bring about revolution.

Minjung Buddhists aimed to establish an ideal society called Pure Land ( Jŏngto ). Traditionally, Pure Land Buddhist philosophy encompasses two aspects: being reborn in Amita Buddha’s Pure Land, and creating the Pure Land in this world at this moment. Minjung Buddhists accepted the latter, arguing that we can live in the Pure Land when we strive to overcome the contradictions of society and individuals. Through Minjung Buddhism, Korean Buddhists envisioned a social revolution.

After the democratization of South Korea in 1987, the Minjung Buddhist movement gradually waned. Most of its members transformed the movement into a more socially accessible form known as “practical Buddhism” ( Silch’ŏn Bulgyo ), which later evolved into “socially engaged Buddhism” ( Ch’amyŏ Bulgyo ). They have led environmental protection, Korean unification, and other social movements. The philosophy of Minjung Buddhism became the theoretical foundation for socially underpinning for socially engaged Buddhism, which is rooted in the belief that individuals are the agents of societal change and that people’s creative actions can transform the world.

Two notable groups actively involved in social issues blend these principles with traditional Buddhist philosophy: The Jungto Society and Indra’s Net Community. The Jungto Society adopted the Minjung Buddhists’ objective of creating the Pure Land in our current world. However, the Jungto Society does not focus on political revolution; instead, its primary concerns are individual happiness and a harmonious world based on non-dualistic Buddhist philosophy. Meanwhile, the Indra’s Net Community embraces the Hwaŏm philosophy of an interconnected world, encapsulated in the idea that “one is all, and all is one”. The metaphor of Indra’s net implies the teaching that all beings are interconnected. As such, the Indra’s net Community concentrates on restoring the connection between people and the earth through ecological movements and care for all life forms on earth.

In the modern era, women struggled for gender equality and sought liberation within a patriarchal society. Kim Iryŏp (1896–1971), a leading figure among the “New Woman” ( Sinyŏsŏng ) of her time, actively confronted these issues and discovered profound insights within Sŏn Buddhism. Prior to her life as a Buddhist nun, she gained recognition as a prominent writer among female intellectuals and was deeply involved in the women’s movement. Following her ordination as a nun, she wholeheartedly dedicated herself to Buddhist practice and philosophy, although not explicitly engaging in the women’s movement. Nevertheless, her explorations delved into women’s issues at a more fundamental level (J. Park 2017b). Nearly three decades later, she published a book, Reflections of a Zen Buddhist Nun and rekindled her connection with society. In her essays, she skillfully applied traditional Sŏn teachings to address gender-related problems and presented a novel approach to philosophical inquiry.

Within her essay collection, Kim Iryŏp employed her personal experiences as a foundation for philosophical contemplation, all within the context of Buddhist teachings. Through her life journey as a woman, she sought answers to profound questions regarding human existence, identity, societal constraints, and love, all framed within the context of Buddhist principles. Her essay titled “Having Burnt Away My Youth” (Kim 2014, 140–198) provides a detailed account of her philosophical odyssey.

During her Sŏn practice, she encountered the concept of the “great self,” representing a universal existence that transcended individual selves. Kim Iryŏp made a clear distinction between the individual self, often referred to as the “small self,” and the authentic universal great self. This great self was not an independent entity but rather symbolized the totality of all beings. In the context of gender-related issues, the “small self” represented the confined “I,” constrained by societal gender norms, while the “great self” epitomized the liberated self, free from societal restrictions. Prior to her engagement with Buddhist philosophy, she had primarily focused on seeking liberation amid the conflict between her individual self and societal norms. However, as a Buddhist nun, she achieved freedom by transcending this dualistic thinking, thereby attaining existential liberation.

Furthermore, she introduced the concept of “creativity” as the pathway to liberation from the constricting small self and the embrace of the expansive great self. This creativity was synonymous with each person’s original mind, which served as the wellspring of one’s existence. Recognizing this original mind led to the realization of becoming a “complete being,” someone whose existence harmonized with the universe. Kim Iryŏp’s philosophy vividly illustrated how Buddhist teachings could serve as a powerful tool for both personal and social transformation.

Another noteworthy Buddhist nun, Daehaeng (1927–2012), the founder of the Hanmaŭm Sŏn Center ( Hanmaŭm Sŏnwŏn ), revolutionized traditional Buddhist practices in response to the needs of people. Her focus was on healing individuals, and she proposed Hanmaŭm thought and Juingong practice as methods for healing. “ Hanmaŭm ” signifies the concept of “one Mind” ( ilsim ), an alternative expression of Buddha nature and essence. Hanmaŭm existed equally within all beings, and all beings derived from it. “ Juingong ” referred to the insubstantial doer, the individual manifestation of Hanmaŭm . Daehaeng advocated a practice of surrendering everything to Juingong , as it represented the center and true master of oneself. Juingong practice did not necessitate specific times or places for sitting meditation; instead, one could simply call upon Juingong whenever the need arose. This practice was highly accessible to ordinary people in their daily lives.

These women Buddhist philosophers reshaped traditional Buddhist philosophy and demonstrated the capacity of Buddhist teachings to address profound existential questions. Their dedicated efforts also contributed to the enrichment of the tapestry of Korean Buddhist philosophy.

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• Ch’oe Namsŏn, 1918, “Chosŏn Bulgyo ŭi daegwanŭrobutŏ Chosŏn Bulgyo tongsa e geupham (朝鮮佛敎의 大觀으로부터 「朝鮮佛敎通史」에 及함)” [Overview of Korean Buddhism: A Diachronic Approach to Korean Buddhism], Joseon Bulgyo ch’ongbo, vol. 11–12.
• Ch’oe Namsŏn, 1930, “Chosŏn Bulgyo: Tongpangmunhwa sasange isnŭn kŭ chiwi (朝鮮佛敎: 東方文化思想에 잇는 그 地位)” [Korean Buddhism: the successor of East Asian cultural thought] , Bulgyo, vol.74.
• Ch’oe Yeonsik, 2015, “Hwaŏmkyung Mundapgua Ilsŭng Bŏpgyedorŭl T’onghae Bon Ŭisangŭi Hwaŏmkyung Insik (화엄경 문답과 일승법계도를 통해 본 의상의 화엄경 인식)” [Uisang‘s View of the Huayan Sutra Seen Through His Questions and Answers on Huayan Sutra and One Vehicle Dharma Realm Seal], Hanguk Sasangsahak vol. 49.
• Choi Seonkyung, 2005, “Samgukyusa Bulgyo sŏlhwae dŭng janghanŭn yeosŏng Inmul hyungsanggwa ginŭnge kwanhayŏ (삼국유사 불교 설화에 등장하는 여성인물 형상과 기능에 관하여)” [A Study on the Features and Roles of Female Characters in the Buddhistic], Inganyŏngu , vol. 8.
• Chŏn Jaesŏng, 1977, “Minjung Bulgyoron (민중불교론)” [The theory of minjung Buddhism], Daehwa October.
• Huh Namjin (ed./trans.), 2005, Samkukwa T’ongilshillaŭi Bulgyo Sasang (삼국과 통일신라의 불교 사상) [ Buddhism of Three Kingdoms and Unified Shilla ], Seoul: Seoul National University Press.
• Lee Byungwook, 2002, Koryŏ sidaeŭi BulgyoSasang (고려 시대의 불교사상) [ Buddhist thoughts in the Koryŏ Dynasty ], Seoul: Hyean press.
• Paek Sŏnguk, 1925, “Bulgyo Sujŏn Ch’ŏlhak (佛敎純全哲學)” [Buddhist Metaphysics], Bulgyo , vol. 8.
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How to cite this entry . Preview the PDF version of this entry at the Friends of the SEP Society . Look up topics and thinkers related to this entry at the Internet Philosophy Ontology Project (InPhO). Enhanced bibliography for this entry at PhilPapers , with links to its database.

• Baek, YongSŏng, 1913, Return to the source: Correcting the core teachings , [ Guiwon Jŏngjong 歸源正宗] , Shin Gyutak (trans.)
• Hangukbulgkyojŏnsŏ (한국불교전서) [ The Source of Korean Buddhism ] , Dongguk University.
• Kŭntae Bulkyo Japchi (근대불교잡지) [Buddhist Journals in modern Korea] , Dongguk University.

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Essay On Gautam Buddha – 10 Lines, Short And Long Essay For Children

• Key Points To Remember When Writing Essay On Gautam Buddha

10 Lines On Gautam Buddha

• Paragraph On Gautam Buddha
• Short Essay On Gautam Buddha
• Essay On Buddha Purnima
• Long Essay On Gautam Buddha

Interesting Facts About Gautam Buddha For Kids

What will your child learn from gautam buddha essay.

Everybody knows Gautam Buddha as the embodiment of peace, serenity, wisdom and enlightenment. The Buddha figurines and statues are popular as a reminder in homes and offices to maintain calmness and focus. From a moral and philosophical perspective, children have much to gain by writing an essay on Gautam Buddha. Their research on the topic will familiarise them with one of the most loved and respected spiritual leaders. This article will show you how to write an essay for classes 1, 2 and 3 on Gautam Buddha

Key Points To Remember When Writing Essay On Gautam Buddha   

Here are some essential points to remember when writing an essay on Gautam Buddha:   

• Essays on Gautam Buddha should have basic facts about him, such as his place of birth, the names of his family, and his early life.   
• Long and short-form essays should have introductory and concluding lines.   
• The narrative of the events of his life should be chronological to keep the readers engaged.   
• Avoid including exaggerated content in the essay, and stick to simple facts.   

One-line essays are a great place to start essay writing for children. Here is an example of an essay for classes 1 and 2 on Gautam Buddha:   

• Gautam Buddha is the founder of Buddhism.   
• He was born to a royal family in 623 BC in Lumbini, Nepal.   
• His father was King Shuddhodan, and his mother was Queen Maya.   
• His mother died soon after he was born, so he was raised by a stepmother, Mahaprajapati.   
• In his childhood, he was also called Siddharta.   
• Gautam was given all the material pleasures to stop him from leaving the palace.   
• He fell into deep contemplation at first sight of illness and death and decided to find a way to end the suffering.   
• Gautam left his wife, kingdom and son Rahula to solve the suffering.   
• After six long years of penance and meditation, he finally attained enlightenment under the Bodhi tree.   
• Gautama taught the noble eight-fold path to free oneself from suffering until he died.   

Paragraph On Gautam Buddha   

To write a few lines on Gautam Buddha, it is essential to note down the key points you want to cover or the key facets of his life you want to focus on. Here is an essay on Gautam Buddha in 100 words:   

Gautam Buddha, also known as Siddhartha Gautama, was a spiritual leader who lived in the 6th century BC. Born in Lumbini, Nepal, he was raised in a royal family but left his palace life after witnessing suffering and death. He spent six years meditating under the Bodhi Tree (now in Sri Lanka), eventually attaining enlightenment. He then taught the Eightfold Path to others to free oneself from suffering. His teachings became the foundation of Buddhism, which continues to be a significant religion globally. Gautam Buddha’s life and teachings emphasise the importance of self-reflection, compassion, peace, and the pursuit of wisdom.   

Short Essay On Gautam Buddha 

A short paragraph on Gautam Buddha is a good exercise for the brief narration of a story. Children can learn from this essay on Gautama Buddha in 150 words:       

Gautam Buddha is one of the most well-known spiritual leaders in history. He started Buddhism in the 6th century BC. He was born to a wealthy family in Lumbini, near the Indo-Nepal border. His mother died shortly after his birth, and he was raised as a prince with every imaginable comfort and luxury.    

Not knowing suffering or death, Gautama was touring his kingdom one day when he came across sick and dead people. Deeply disturbed by the world’s suffering, he decided to find a way out. He left his wife and child to live an ascetic life and find answers to existential problems.    

Wandering for truth, he reached Gaya, where he sat in penance under a peepal tree. After years of meditation, he finally attained enlightenment. The enlightened Buddha then set out to teach it to the rest of the world. His teachings became the basis of the religion of Buddhism.   

Essay On Buddha Purnima  

As kids become more comfortable writing smaller essays, they can add more detail to their writing with longer ones. Here’s an example of a Gautam Buddha essay in 200 words:   

Gautam Buddha, also known as Siddhartha Gautama, was a spiritual leader and the founder of Buddhism. Born into a wealthy family in Lumbini, Nepal, around 563 BCE, he embarked on a profound journey of self-discovery, renouncing his lavish lifestyle to seek enlightenment. After years of asceticism and meditation, he achieved the ultimate state of nirvana under the Bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya, India.   

Buddha taught the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path, emphasising the cessation of suffering by eliminating desire and ignorance. He spent the remainder of his life travelling and teaching his philosophy, establishing a monastic community called the Sangha.   

Buddha’s teachings centre around compassion, non-violence, and the belief that all life is sacred. He rejected the caste system and the authority of the Vedas, instead emphasising individual spiritual development and the importance of moral conduct.   

Buddha passed away at the age of 80 in Kushinagar, India. His teachings were later compiled into the Tripitaka, the foundational scriptures of Buddhism.   

Throughout his life, Buddha’s message of love, kindness, and selflessness resonated with people from all walks of life, transcending cultural and social boundaries. His teachings have profoundly impacted Eastern and Western philosophy, influencing various spiritual traditions and shaping human history.   

Long Essay On Gautam Buddha 

A long composition should have an excellent narrative to keep the reader engaged. Here is an example of an essay for class 3 on Gautam Buddha:   

Born in the 6th century BC, Siddharta Gautama was a prince of a small kingdom in the Terai region of Nepal. His mother dreamed that the boy would grow up to become a great king or saint, but died soon after his birth. His father, King Suddhodhana, was worried he might leave the kingdom to become a saint, so he changed the palace environment to one of endless comforts and pleasures. As Gautam grew into a young man, he was kept away from anything that would provoke spiritual thoughts. He was married to Yashodhara, a beautiful princess with whom he had a son named Rahula.     

One day, while on a tour of the kingdom, Gautam saw an ailing person and a corpse. This disturbed him, as he had never known suffering in his lavish life. He soon worried that his life of pleasure also had a timeline, and nothing was permanent. Deeply troubled by this thought, he looked for answers but found none that satisfied him. Gautam then decided to find the answers and left his family and kingdom behind.   

Gautam searched for answers and studied under many gurus but never felt satisfied. He tried meditation techniques and every trick in the books. Finally, when nothing came to fruition, he starved himself, thinking his physical being was the problem. A kind woman offered him rice to eat, and it suddenly rejuvenated him that punishing himself was not the way.   

Recovering from starvation, he sat under the bodhi tree and vowed not to leave until he experienced an awakening. His effort paid off, and after six long years of searching, he finally attained enlightenment under the same tree. Gautam Buddha taught what he had learned and became a great leader. His teachings eventually became central to Buddhism, one of the most respected religions in the world.    

Here are some interesting facts about Gautam Buddha:   

• He was raised in Kapilavastu and was a prince of the Shakya clan.   
• His mother, Maya, had a dream of a white elephant with six white tusks before his birth.   
• Gautama Buddha left home in search of spirituality.   
• He gave up his palace life after seeing four things – a corpse, an old man, a sick man, and a wandering ascetic.   
• To stop him from becoming a sage, he was married at 16.   
• He left his palace at 29 and attained enlightenment at 35.   
• Gautama Buddha founded Buddhism and taught his followers to avoid ignorance, hate, and anger.   
• The Buddha’s teachings were preserved and passed on through the Sangha, an order of monks and nuns.   
• The Buddha is often depicted in a seated position with one hand touching the ground, symbolizing his connection to the earth and his enlightenment.   
• He died at the age of 80.   

The Gautam Buddha essay is a good source of information on the topic for children. By studying the long—and short-form articles above, they can learn how to write an essay on Buddha.   

1. What Did Gautam Buddha Do To Attain Knowledge And Peace?

Gautam Buddha gave up his family, kingdom and lavish life to live and wander as an ascetic for years. He learnt various important things through his journey, including meditation, which finally blossomed as his enlightenment. With his awakening, he was liberated from the cycles of birth and death and instantly at peace.

2. What Does Buddhism Teach Us?

Buddhism teaches us the most basic truths about existence:

• The fact of suffering in reality
• The reason behind suffering
• The end of suffering
• The path one should take to end suffering

3. What Does the Word “Buddha” Mean?   

The word “Buddha” means “enlightened one” in Sanskrit and refers to the founder of Buddhism, Siddhartha Gautama, also known as Gautam Buddha.   

4. What did Buddha do before he became enlightened?   

Before he became enlightened, Buddha was a prince who lived a life of luxury and wealth. He was married and had a son, but he was unhappy and wanted to find a way to end suffering.   

Gautam Buddha was an enlightened teacher who led many to a righteous life and freedom from suffering. These essays on Gautam Buddha’s story in English are a snapshot of his life and some events, teaching a great deal about him.   

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Looking for Bone Traces in Buddhist Clay Objects (Tsha Tshas) Using Ftir and Xrf Spectroscopies

9 Pages Posted: 4 Sep 2024

David Andolfatto

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Céline Daher

Philippe charlier.

This case study describes physico-chemical analyses carried on small Buddhist clay objects known in Tibetan as tsha tsha. These votive artefacts are produced during a variety of rituals. Among them, funerary tsha tshas, made with corporeal remains from the deceased (nails, hair, bone powder) are usually given specific attention depending on regional practices (deposited in caves, enshrined in monuments, etc.). The research intends to identify bone traces in 17 tsha tshas from the collections of the Musée du quai Branly-Jacques Chirac, Paris, as a way of learning more about these objects. Indeed, while museums sometimes hold large quantities of tsha tshas, the original cultural and ritual context of production and use of the latter remain unknown. The study discusses the results of the first non-invasive archaeometric analyses of tsha tshas carried with the aim of contextualizing such objects. Two spectroscopic methods were used: Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-rays fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF). They aimed at identifying phosphate groups in FTIR and phosphorus on the XRF spectra, as these elements can indicate the presence of heated bone residues. Although the FTIR did not yield any significant outcomes, the XRF on the other hand allowed the detection of phosphorus in 9 objects. The analysis therefore allows us to identify certain tsha tshas as funerary. Besides providing new information on museum artefacts, these results bring up several questions pertaining to their context of collection.

Keywords: Tsha tsha, Tibetan funerary artefacts, bone residues, Ftir, Xrf, non-invasive analysis, Buddhism

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David Andolfatto (Contact Author)

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